UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


Development 


OF  THE 

Free  Public  High  School 

IN  ILLINOIS  TO  1860 

PAUL  E.  BELTING 

Submitted  in  Partial  Fulfillment  of  the  Requirements  for  the  Degree  of 

Doctor  Philosophy,  in  the  Faculty  of  Philosophy, 

Columbia  University 

1919 


Published  by 

ILLINOIS  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  JOURNAL 

Springfield 

1919 


ScHNEPP  &  Barnes,  Printers 

Springfield,  III. 

1920. 


22747—100 


*    LA 
3^UI 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 


The  author  is  under  obligations  to  Dr.  Paul  Monroe  for 
suggesting  the  subject  investigated  and  the  interpretation  of 
facts  as  well  as  a  critical  reading  of  the  manuscript ;  to  Dr.  W. 
H.  Kilpatrick  for  helpful  suggestions ;  to  Dr.  M.  R.  Trabue  for 
a  careful  reading  of  the  entire  manuscript ;  to  Dr.  I.  L.  Kandel 
for  helpful  criticism;  and  to  his  wife  for  assistance  in  the 
preparation  of  the  material. 

The  author  is  especially  indebted  to  the  county  clerks  of 
the  older  Illinois  counties  for  permitting  the  use  of  old 
records;  to  the  New  York  Public  Library  for  the  use  of  doc- 
umentary material ;  to  the  Mercantile  Library  in  St.  Louis  for 
the  use  of  the  J.  M.  Peck  collection  of  newspapers;  to  Mrs. 
Jessie  Palmer  Weber  and  her  assistants  of  the  Illinois  State 
Historical  Library  for  kindness  and  courtesy  shown  in  making 
available  all  the  resources  of  the  State  Historical  Library;  and 
to  the  Illinois  Historical  Society  for  the  publication  of  the 
dissertation. 

P.  E.  B. 


.57 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL  IN 

ILLINOIS. 

CONTENTS. 
Pakt  I — The  Academy. 

CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

I.    Historical  Background — 

Migration  and  Settlement;  the  Northwest  Ordi- 
nances   ' ' 

II.     Early  Education  in  Illinois — 

Individual  and  Isolated  Attempts  to  Establish 

Schools    1^ 

III.  Administrative  Organization  and  Support. 27 

IV.  Religious  Influence — 

Catholic;  Baptist;  Methodist;  Presbyterian; 
Congregational  ^I 

V.     Some  Internal  Features — 

Admission;  Tuition;  Subjects  of  Study;  Ex- 
aminations       ^' . 

VI.     Manual  Labor  Aspect — 

Origin;  Philosophy;  Examples;  Later  Influence       77 

Part  II — The  Common  School. 

VIL     The  Apprenticeship  System- 
Features;  Indenture  Records;  Relation  to 
Slavery "^ 

VIII.     The  Free  School  Law  of  1825— 

Pro-slavery  Struggle;  Provisions;  Authorship; 
Influence  of  Jefferson ;  Free  School  Districts ; 
Annullment— Support  of  Common  Schools 
Af ter^/ards    "^ 


CONTENTS— Concluded. 

CHAPTEK.  PAGE. 

IX,     The  Movement  of  1835— 108 

Political  Platforms;  Survey  of  the  State;  Me- 
morials; Proposal  for  Normal  Schools — Teach- 
ers— Wages. 

X.     Some  Agencies  that  Aided  in  the  Development 

and  Establishment  of  the  Common  School —    . .  120 

Leaders;  Literary  Agencies;  Institutions;  Con- 
ventions. 

XI.  The  Free  School  Law  of  1855— 141 

Defeat  of  Free  Schools  in  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention; Provisions;  Attitude  Toward  Free 
Schools. 

X I I.  The  Beginnings  and  the  Characteristics  of  the 

Free  Public  High  School  by  1860— 155 

Gradation;  Reorganization  of  Acadamies;  High 
Schools  Subjects  of  Study;  Admission  to  High 
School ;  Taxation ;  Public  School  Boards. 

Xm.    The   Establishment    of   the    Free    Public    High 

School— 174 

Township  High  Schools;  School  Districts  Under 
Special  Charter;  School  Districts  Established 
by  General  Law  Legal  Decisions. 

XIV.    A  Summary  of  Some  Earlier  Influences  Affecting 

Later  Development  and  Practice 187 

XV.     Summary  and  Conclusion 195 


CHAPTER  I. 


Historical.  Background. 

Migration  and  Settlement. 

Illinois  was  first  organized  as  a  county  of  the  State  of 
Virginia  in  1778.  The  legislature  of  the  mother  state  gave 
the  territory  the  name  of  Illinois,  appointed  John  Todd  the 
first  lieutenant  governor  to  take  charge  of  its  civil  and  mili- 
tary affairs  but  ceded  the  territory  to  the  confederation  in 
1784.  In  1809,  Illinois  was  organized  as  a  separate  territory 
with  Ninian  Edwards,  Chief  Justice  of  Kentucky,  the 
governor,  appointed  by  President  Madison.  This  office  Mr. 
Edwards  held  until  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate 
in  1818,  at  which  time  Illinois  became  a  state  populated  by 
emigrants  from  the  older  states. 

Migration  from  the  eastern  to  the  western  states  has 
usually  followed  the  parallels  of  latitude.  Illinois  is  an  ex- 
cellent example  of  such  a  tendency.  The  State  is  about  four 
hundred  miles  in  length,  and  the  parallels  which  bound  it  on 
the  north  and  south  include  between  them  the  Atlantic  States 
from  New  Hampshire  to  North  Carolina.  Northern  Illinois, 
therefore,  was  settled  by  people  from  Massachusetts  and 
other  New  England  and  eastern  states,  while  southern  Illinois 
got  its  population  from  Virginia  and  the  South. 

The  southern  half  of  the  state  with  the  river  and  timber 
areas  was  settled  first.  The  pioneer  hunter  was  driven  farther 
inland  by  a  second  class,  the  small  farmer,  who,  in  turn,  had 
to  advance  before  the  large  land-owner  whose  purpose  was  to 
cultivate  the  land,  build  a  home  for  a  big  family,  and  become  a 
permanent  resident  of  the  country. 

From  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Virginia  came  the  more 
enlightened  class  of  southerners,  among  whom  were  such  lead- 
ers as  Reynolds,  Edwards  and  Coles.  These  men 
possessed  great  political  wisdom  and  legal  talent  often  rising 
to  positions  of  importance  and  prominence  in  the  State  and 


8 

Nation.  Their  followers  were  keen,  intelligent  men,  botli 
progressive  and  conservative  at  the  same  time.  All  classes, 
however,  were  kind  and  hospitable  to  stranger  and  friend 
alike,  but  once  aroused,  they  were  "bitter,  vindictive  and 
passionate  opponents  in  business  or  politics.  Strong  in  their 
conviction  and  prejudices,  persistent  in  the  maintenance  of 
existing  ideals  and  institutions,  they  were  the  champions  of 
justice,  equity  and  freedom  of  speech  and  action."^ 

The  ''poor  whites,"  so  called,  came  from  the  Carolinas 
and  Georgia.  They  were  usually  ignorant,  obstinate,  and 
shiftless.-  To  gain  their  desires,  many  times  dishonest  and 
unscrupulous  means  were  used.  Wages  were  low  and  times 
were  hard  so  that  in  the  bitter  struggle  to  earn  a  livelihood, 
ruthless  measures  were  often  adopted,  without  regard  for 
principle.  Some  of  them  therefore,  constituted  one  of  the 
elements  in  the  lawless  gangs  that  harrassed  places  in  the 
wealthier  districts  of  frontier  society. 

Until  1830,  Illinois  was  almost  entirely  settled  by  men 
from  the  South  who  brought  with  them  their  political  ideals, 
laws,  manners,  customs  and  traditions.  It  was  southern  law 
that  formed  the  model  for  the  territorial  code.  They  were  the 
ones  who  made  the  constitution  of  1818.  Slavery  was  a  south- 
ern institution  which  the  convention  of  1824  tried  to  adopt. 
The  first  free  school  law  which  was  passed  was  southern  in 
origin  but  it  was  also  the  South  which  caused  its  revocation. 

Instead  of  a  gradual  settlement  by  classes  as  had  been 
in  the  south,  the  hunter,  the  small  hold-farmer,  and  the  large 
land-owner,  men  of  all  classes  came  rapidly  to  every  part  of 
the  State,  and  especially  to  the  north  after  1830.  With  steam 
navigation  came  the  merchant,  the  farmer,  the  artisan,  the 
preacher  and  schoolmaster,  each  equipped  to  contribute  his 
share  in  creating  a  new  civilization  immediately  in  the  new 
country.  Dwellings,  business  houses,  factories,  churches  and 
schools  were  erected  at  the  same  time.  Danger  from  Indian 
Wars  was  over,  the  prairie  land  needed  no  clearing,  hence 
the  only  requisite  before  wealth  could  come  as  the  result  of 
industry,  was  the  means  of  transportation  to  furnish  a  market 
for  products. 

'Harris,  Negro  Servitude  in  Illinois,  p.  16. 
*Bog-gess,  Settlement  of  Illinois,  p.  123. 


9 

The  Causes  for  Migration. 

At  least  two  reasons  induced  people  to  migrate  to  Illinois. 
The  first  were  general,  influences  that  affected  tlie  whole 
country.  The  second  were  local,  influences  that  afl'ected 
special  regions. 

Many  of  the  American  people  have  shown  a  restless  and 
migratory  spirit.^  Ever  have  they  been  dissatisfied  with 
existing  conditions  which  they  thought  could  be  improved  in 
a  country  where  farms  were  cheap  and  land  was  fertile.  With 
reasonable  labor  a  better  living,  at  least,  could  be  made. 

Business  men  had  in  several  instances  failed  at  home. 
The  wilderness  West  offered  a  place  of  refuge  for  them. 
Farm  laborers  w^ith  low  wages  had  learned  how  to  farm.  The 
western  lands  presented  an  opportunity  for  some  of  them  to 
make  a  better  living.  Comparative  land  values  were  influen- 
tial. Large  tracts  of  land  could  be  had  in  the  West  cheaper 
than  small  farms  in  the  East. 

After  1820,  western  lands  sold  for  $1.25  per  acre  in  plots 
as  small  as  80  acres,  both  of  which  were  decided  inducements 
for  western  settlement.  The  Foote  Resolution  in  the  House 
in  1829  was  an  inquiry  which  sought  to  find  out  whether  the 
sale  of  public  lands  so  rapidly  w^as  advisable  because  the 
laborers  in  the  East  were  going  West,  thus  taking  them  from 
infant  industry  which  ought  to  be  protected.  Even  Henry 
Clay,  in  1834,  reported  unfavorably  the  advisability  of  ced- 
ing public  land  to  the  state  in  which  it  lay  because  the  older 
states  would  lose  by  migration  much  of  their  population  and 
wealth  in  land  rewards  offered  by  the  new  states. 

Moreover,  the  new  settlers  painted  glowing  pictures  of 
the  western  pioneer.  The  latter  sent  letters  and  circulars  to 
the  East  showing  the  wonderful  advantages  in  the  new 
Utopia.  Restless  and  dissatisfied  easteners  began  to  feel  that 
the  day  when  all  w^estern  land  was  taken  up  was  at  hand. 
Speculators  sent  exaggerated  reports  of  rapidly  growing 
cities.  Plots  of  new  towns  were  shown  in  the  East,  unsold 
lots  were  offered  at  high  prices.  Newspapers  showed  the 
advantages  the  West  held  for  the  laborers  and  small  farmers 
with  little  capital.  *  Soon  products  from  the  West  would 
under-sell  home  produce  in  its  own  market. 

'Abstract  of  seventh  census,  1850,  p.  15,  showed  that  nearly  23%  of  the  white 
inhabitants  of  the  United  States  at  that  time  had  migrated  from  the  state  in  which 
they  were  born. 

•  Buffalo  Commercial  Advertiser,  March  24.   1846. 


10 

Competition  among  the  eastern  states  for  improvements 
to  benefit  their  cities  gave  easy  communication  to  the  West. 
Frequently  inhabitants  along  the  routes  of  travel  were  stim- 
ulated to  move.  Many  of  those  along  the  canals  who 
remained  were  undersold  in  their  own  markets  by  the  west- 
erner. Either  they  had  to  sell  and  go  West  or  reduce  their 
standard  of  living. 

When  the  water  routes,  the  Erie  Canal,  the  Great  Lakes 
and  the  Ohio  River,  were  navigated  by  the  steamboat,  incon- 
veniences were  reduced  and  the  cost  of  transportation  was 
within  reach  of  the  poorest.  An  important  factor  in  the 
rapid  settlement  of  the  West,  therefore,  was  steam  naviga- 
tion: ''Of  all  the  elements  of  prosperity  of  the  West,  of  all 
the  causes  of  its  rapid  increase  in  population,  its  growth  in 
wealth,  resources  and  the  improvement  of  its  immense  com- 
merce and  gigantic  energies,  the  most  efficient  has  been  the 
navigation  by  steam."  * 

Lastly,  speculation  in  western  land  from  1834  to  1840  was 
one  element  in  the  period  of  financial  depression  the  country 
over.  Sometimes  eastern  speculators,  believing  fortunes 
were  to  be  had  in  western  land,  bought  lots  at  high  prices, 
though  these  were  still  under  water  or  in  the  woods.  Laborers 
were  also  involved  in  the  depression.  Combinations  and 
unions  were  formed  by  laborers  in  some  of  the  principal  indus- 
tries.^ High  wages  were  demanded  to  meet  the  higher  prices 
which  were  85  per  cent  higher  in  October,  1836,  than  in  April, 
1834.®  Strikes  resulted  from  the  refusal  to  grant  higher  wages 
with  a  ten-hour  day,  and  several  of  the  principal  cities  had 
labor  troubles  from  1834  to  1837.''  Employers  could  not  meet 
the  laborers'  demands.  The  hours  were  reduced,  then  wages, 
but  prices  remained  high.  The  New  York  Era,  September  5, 
1837,  says,  "we  can  state  on  the  best  authority  that  in  the 
eastern  states  nine-tenths  of  the  factories  have  been  stopped 
and  the  same  proportion  of  men,  women  and  children  thro\VTi 
out  of  employment."  Riots  occurred,  but  the  most  noticeable 
result  was  that  the  "army  of  the  unemployed  went  West  to 


♦Memorial  of  People  of  Cincinnati,  1844,  p.  28. 

*  Ship  carpenters,  painters,  masons,  tailors,  shoemakers,  factory  hands,  harness 
makers. 

•Yale  Review,  v.  1,  p,  94. 

'  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Hartford,  Washington,  Trenton,  Cincinnati,  Louisville, 
St.  Louis,  Natchez. 


11 

take  up  the  heritage  of  the  poor  man,  cheap  lands  in  a  new 

'''^'''^of  the  local  causes  for  migration,  curiosity  drove  many 
of  the  New  Englanders  up  the  rivers  of  their  own  states  m  tiie 
easier  times  and  later,  the  desires  for  better  land  sent  ni^ny 
of  their  descendants  across  the  mountams  to  Michigan,  Wis- 
consin and  Illinois.  The  soil  of  New  Eng  and  was  no  match 
for  the  fertile  plains  of  the  West.  A  number  of  the  younger 
men  desiring  a  higher  standard  of  living  went  West.  Fin- 
Sly  New  England  increased  rapidly  as  an  mdustnal  section 
from  1840  to  1850.  Wages  were  good  and  Pi'i«^%^,^[^^,  ^^\f^' 
but  the  foreign  immigrant  who  began  to  come  at  that  time 
made  economic  and  social  conditions  more  unbearable  to  the 
iTerican  laborer.  Large  numbers  of  the  latter  -J^Jf  ^o 
escape,  if  possible,  the  increased  limitations  P  aced  on  life^ 

Extremely  hard  times  were  experienced  m  the  Middle 
States^  from  1834  to  1840,  as  the  result  of  high  prices  low 
wages,  and  the  closing  of  factories.  Taxes  were  high  at  the 
Tame  time  especially  among  the  farmers  m  New  York,  due  to 
r  onSrIictL  of  the  Erie  Canal.  The  margin  of  profit  was 
partly  erased  by  the  competition  of  western  farmers  Mor- 
over  pio^^^^^^^  was  being  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  large 
land-owners,  which  made  rents  higher  than  the  cost  of  land 
in  Illinois. 

One  of  the  greatest  causes  in  sending  the  southern 
emigrant  North  was  slavery.  Free  labor  m  the  bouth 
received  12i/.  cents  per  day  in  1832  f  hence  the  white  man  was 
unable  to  compete  with  black  labor.  Cotton,  which  took  much 
of  the  substance  from  the  soil,  was  continually  demanding 
new  land.  Moreover  a  growing  slave  population  crowded  out 
the  small  land  owners  and  the  landless. 

Moreover  some  of  the  southern  states  had  a  complaint 
against  the  tariff  legislation  of  1824  and  1828.  Because  of  it 
he  said  that  merchants  were  ruined,  laborers  were  out  ot 
work,  grass  was  growing  in  the  streets,  houses  were  tailing, 
the  price  of  real  estate  was  low,  rents  were  ^nothing,  tields 
were  abandoned  and  interest  rates  were  high.'" 

8  Yale  Review,  v.  1.  p.  99.  quoted  by  fooley   p.  335. 

.:fe''„Te'i°e'ir.?^rS?,lTI,i.,T-80'wtfc'h  wa.  the  be.i„„,„.  of  ,h. 
nullification  disputes. 


12 

Finally,  Ohio  and  Indiana,  states  that  had  been  members 
of  the  Union  for  a  generation  or  more,  sent  settlers  to  eastern 
Illinois  from  1840  to  1860  because  there  was  not  enough  good 
land  to  divide  with  the  sons  in  the  family  who  desired  to 
establish  homes  of  their  own.  These  youths  moved  West  to 
the  rich  plains  of  Illinois  where  they  were  content  to  stop  to 
make  their  fortune.^^ 

Economically,  the  settlement  of  Illinois  has  been  char- 
acterized, therefore,  as  an  attempt  chiefly  on  the  part  of  the 
American  farmer  and  laborer  to  widen  the  market  and  raise 
the  standard  of  living  by  taking  advantage  of  the  free  western 
lands. 

Railroads  and  lake  traffic  made  Northern  Illinois  feel  it- 
self a  part  of  the  North  Atlantic  States.  Wagon  roads  and 
river  routes  created  the  same  feeling  in  Southern  Illinois  for 
the  South.  Consequently,  the  institutions  in  the  two  sections 
closely  resembled,  in  origin,  those  with  which  the  settlers 
were  acquainted  in  their  home  states.  Northern  Illinois  devel- 
oped the  free,  common  school  system ;  Southern  Illinois  clung 
to  the  academy  and  select  school.  Secondary  education  in  the 
North,  like  the  East,  began  to  become  democratic ;  in  the  Soutli 
it  was  aristocratic.  Sectionalism,  then,  from  the  transporta- 
tion period  on,  changed  from  East  and  West  to  North  and 
South. 

The  Northwest  Ordinances. 
The  ordinances  of  1785  and  1787,  besides  being  instru- 
ments of  government,  constituted  the  first  charters  of  the  pub- 
lic school  system  of  the  United  States.^"  The  former  reserved 
the  sixteenth  section  of  every  township  of  public  land,  "for 
the  maintenance  of  public  schools  within  the  toA\Tiship. ' '  The 
third  article  of  the  latter  said  that  "religion,"  morality  and 
knowledge  being  necessary  to  good  government  and  the  happi- 
ness of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  for- 
ever be  encouraged. ' ' 


"Niles  Register,  v.  52,  p.  114.  Some  names  of  towns  in  the  prairie  district 
of  eastern  Illinois  are  like  the  same  in  Indiana  and  Ohio.  Earlier  prairie  settlers 
frequently  gave  Ohio  and  Indiana  as  the  state  of  their  birth. 

"  After  the  cession  of  Virginia's  claims  to  the  northwestern  territory  was 
executed  various  plans  of  government  were  drawn  up  the  next  three  year.s.  July 
11,  1787,  a  committee  of  which  Nathan  Dane  of  Massachusetts  was  chairman, 
reported  a  plan  of  government  for  the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River.  A 
slavery  clause  was  added  and  the  bill  became  a  law  July  13,  1787.  Congress 
accepted  the   mode   of   government   in    1789. 


13 

April  18, 1818,  Congress  offered  to  Illinois  for  acceptance 
or  rejection. 

"1.  That  section  mimbered  sixteen  in  every  township, 
and  when  such  section  has  been  sold,  or  otherwise  disposed  of, 
other  lands  equivalent  thereto,  and  as  contiguous  as  may  be, 
shall  be  granted  to  the  state  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants  of 
such  township  for  the  use  of  schools." 

2.  ' '  That  all  salt  springs  within  such  state  and  the  lands 
reserved  for  the  use  of  the  same  shall  be  granted  to  the  said 
state,  and  the  same  to  be  used  under  such  terms  and  conditions 
and  regulations  as  the  legislature  of  said  state  shall  direct; 
provided  the  legislature  shall  never  sell  nor  lease  the  same  for 
a  longer  period  than  ten  years  at  any  one  time." 

3.  ''That  five  per  cent  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  lands 
lying  within  such  state,  and  which  shall  be  sold  by  congress 
from  and  after  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  nineteen,  after  deducting  all  expenses  incident 
to  the  same,  shall  be  reserved  for  the  purposes  f ollowmg,  viz : 
Two-fifths  to  be  distributed  under  the  direction  of  congress 
in  making  roads  leading  to  the  state;  the  residue  to  be  ap- 
propriated by  the  legislature  of  the  state  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  learning,  of  which  one-sixth  part  shall  be  exclusively 
bestowed  on  a  college  or  university. ' ' 

4.  "That  thirty-six  sections  or  one  entire  township, 
which  shall  be  designated  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  together  with  the  one  reserved  for  that  purpose,  shall 
be  reserved  for  the  use  of  a  seminary  of  learning,  and  vested 
in  the  legislature  of  the  said  state,  to  be  appropriated  solely 
to  the  use  of  such  seminary  by  the  said  legislature." '' 

These  provisions  laid  down  by  congress  were  accepted  by 
Illinois,  August  26,  1818,  in  a  convention  assembled  at  Kas- 
kaskia. 

The  first  three  sections  of  the  compact  were  carried  out 
and  a  resolution,  "that  a  select  committee  be  appointed  to 
draft  a  memorial  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
requesting  him  to  designate  36  sections  of  land  in  the  State 
of  Illinois,  to  be  reserved  for  the  use  of  a  Seminary  of  Learn- 
ing in  said  state,  in  pursuance  of  the  fourth  article  of  the 

23  Constitution  of  Illinois,  1818,  p.  22. 


14 

compact  between  the  United  States  and  the  state  of  Illinois," 
was  sent  to  the  President  in  1822.  * 

Although  land  grants  were  made  on  the  basis  of  town- 
ships or  subdivisions  of  them,  local  government  was  managed 
by  a  county  commissioners'  court  of  three  which  resembled 
that  of  Virginia  except  that  the  Dlinois  commissioners  in 
each  county  were  elected  at  large  by  the  people.  "The  com- 
missioners had  a  narrow  range  of  discretionary  power;  but 
there  was  no  power  given  to  communities  to  control  local 
affairs  or  to  enact  by-laws  in  promotion  of  neighborhood 
interests."  ^* 

However,  there  was  the  germ  in  these  congressional 
grants  of  land  for  school  purposes,  capable  of  becoming  a 
highly  organized  township  system  under  proper  conditions. 
Deeds  to  land  were  given  by  the  authority  of  the  township. 
The  government  of  the  United  States  had  set  aside  for  the 
people  of  every  township  a  section  of  land,  the  proceeds  from 
which  were  to  constitute  a  permanent  township  school  fund. 
The  State,  moreover,  made  the  township  a  body  corporate 
and  politic  for  school  purposes,  and  gave  the  inhabitants  of 
each  township  the  right  to  maintain  free  schools  near  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  But  the  first  school  dis- 
tricts of  the  state  followed  boundaries  that  were  laid  out  to 
meet  the  needs  of  a  locality  rather  than  following  the  lines  of 
the  surveyed  township.  The  first  attempts  for  the  education 
of  the  children  of  Illinois  are  illustrated  in  the  following 
chapter. 

*  The  President  authorized  Gov.  Coles  to  select  the  36  sections.  The  latter 
reported  to  the  legislature,  Dec.  4,  1826,  that  he  had  chosen  26,  and  would  soon 
designate  the  other  10  sections. 

"Illinois  Intelligencer,  Sat.,  Dec.  14,  1822. 


15 


CHAPTER  11. 


Early  Education  in  Illinois. 

Frontier  settlements  in  the  United  States  generally  have 
had  two  classes  of  people:  the  one,  made  up  of  the  strong, 
the  honest  and  the  adventurous;  the  other,  made  up  of  the 
weak,  the  shiftless  and  the  vicious.  The  former  were  always 
desirous  of  providing  those  opportunities  for  their  children 
which  the  parents  had  missed  themselves;  the  latter  were 
the  parasites  who  tried  to  exist  with  the  least  possible  ex- 
ertion. Nowhere  does  this  contrast  stand  out  so  sharply,  as 
it  does  in  relation  to  education.  In  the  absence  of  established 
school  systems,  individual  leaders  provided  what  education 
they  could  for  the  youth.  Very  often  the  parasitic,  itinerant 
individuals  thought  that  teaching  was  the  easiest  means  of 
existence.  Accordingly,  bombastic  speeches  and  alluring 
advertisements  were  made  by  the  soldier-of -fortune  teachers 
to  attract  tuition  pupils  to  their  high-sounding,  fashionable 
schools.  A  made  to  order  education  could  be  given  to  any 
child  so  ^  long  as  the  tuition  was  paid.  Quick  of  growth, 
popular  in  name,  entertaining  in  methods  of  teaching,  these 
institutions  preyed  on  the  frontier  communities. 

Nevertheless,  the  indomitable,  thoroughly  honest,  intelli- 
gent and  far-sighted  missionary  preachers  and  political  lead- 
ers planned  to  start  aright  a  system  of  education.  It  is  true 
that  their  ideal,  usually,  was  the  academy,  an  institution  in 
practice,  primarily,  for  the  education  of  leaders.  But  in 
theory,  at  least,  its  advantages  should  be  such  that  the  ideal 
government  created  by  the  constitution  could  be  maintained 
by  educating  every  child.  From  1806,  when  the  Vincennes 
Academy  was  established,  to  the  time  when  the  free  public 
high  school  was  established,  the  great  argument  advanced  for 
the  education  of  the  people  was  that  the  government  of  the 
people,  for  the  people,  and  by  the  people  might  not  perish 


16 

from  the  earth.  Had  free  government  in  Illinois  depended 
on  free  educational  provisions  and  opportunities  for  the 
common  man  in  the  early  period,  it  most  surely  would  have 
perished.  Either  leaders  like  Coles  and  Peck  were  educated 
in  the  states  from  whence  they  came,  or  a  few  academies 
in  the  centers  of  population  in  the  frontier  districts  instruct- 
ed such  leaders  as  Rejoiolds  and  Bateman.  On  the  whole,  the 
educational  system  of  Illinois,  from  1800  to  1835,  was  con- 
ducted on  a  purely  individualistic  basis. 

Among  the  earliest  plans  for  education  in  Illinois  was 
that  presented  to  the  English  King  and  Council  in  a  petition 
by  Leyman,  a  leader  of  a  colony,  to  settle  on  the  Mississippi 
about  1765.  He  says,  ^'Another  step  I  would  propose  to  be 
taken  which  must  have  great  effect  towards  Accomplishing 
the  design,  is  that  of  a  Colledge,  or  Publick  School,  to  be 
Established  in  some  proper  place  in  that  Country,  and  em- 
powered to  give  honorary  degrees,  in  Order  to  instruct  the 
Children  of  the  English,  French  and  Indians,  and  amongst 
the  honorary  Arts,  the  Art  of  Agriculture,  or  Laws  of  Vege- 
tation should  be  taught  and  on  Account  of  their  knowledge 
and  Skill  in  that  as  well  as  in  other  Arts,  they  should  receive 
Honorary  Degrees,  and  have  a  sufficient  tract  of  Land  appro- 
priated to  the  use  of  the  Colledge,  and  the  pupils  kept  to 
work  on  the  Land  a  certain  number  of  Hours  every  day,  which 
would  instruct  them  in  the  Theory  of  Agriculture,  and  enure 
them  to  Labour  at  the  same  time  and  if  it  once  toucht  their 
ambition  would  soon  Eradicate  from  their  Minds,  the  Preju- 
dice the  Indians  who  generally  have  imbibed,  that  it  is  dis- 
respectable  for  their  Men  to  Work,  which  at  present  is  an 
impediment  to  their  Industry.  And  Occasions  there  leading 
in  the  Intervals  of  their  Hunting,  Lazy,  Indolent  and  Un- 
healthy Lives,  and  if  this  plan  should  Flatter  the  Ambition  of 
the  Indians,  so  as  to  meet  with  their  Approbation,  I  think  it 
promises  the  best  Effects :  for  what  cannot  be  done  by  Force 
of  Infant  Education  when  you  have  a  fair  Chance  for  it,  by 
obtaining  the  Free  Consent  both  of  the  Parent  and  Child,  or 
what  reformation  is  to  be  despaired  of,  when  Clothed,  Lodged 
and  Fed,  alike  according  to  the  English  Fashion,  but  in  the 
Cheapest  manner,  which  may  likewise  have  a  happy  Effect  on 
the  Nations  from  whence  they  respectively  come.     Several 


17 

things  Encourage  me  to  believe  that  such  an  Attempt,  would 
be  attended  with  Success  over  and  above  the  Great  Force 
there  is  in  Infant  Education  Amongst  all  Mankind. ' '  ^ 

However,  ''the  opportunity  of  these  pioneers  to  educate 
their  children  was  extremely  small.  If  the  mother  could 
read,  while  the  father  was  in  the  corn  field,  or  with  rifle  upon 
the  range,  she  would  barricade  the  door  to  keep  off  the 
Indians,  gather  her  little  ones  around  her  and  by  the  light 
that  came  in  from  the  crevices  in  the  roof  and  sides  of  the 
cabin,  she  would  teach  them  the  rudiments  of  spelling  from 
the  fragments  of  some  old  book.  After  schools  were  taught, 
the  price  of  a  rough  and  antiquated  copy  of  Dilworth's  spell- 
ing-book was  one  dollar,  and  that  dollar  equal  in  value  to  five 
now. ' ' 

"The  first  school  ever  taught  for  the  American  settlers, 
was  by  Samuel  Seely  in  1783.  Francis  Clark,  an  intemper- 
ate man  came  next.  This  was  near  Bellefontaine,  in  1785. 
After  this  an  inoffensive  Irishman  by  the  name  of  Halfpenny, 
was  employed  by  the  people  for  several  quarters.  Spelling, 
reading,  writing  and  the  elements  of  arithmetic,  were  all  the 
branches  attempted  to  be  taught,  and  these  in  a  very  imper- 
fect manner." 

"Following  him  the  late  pious  and  eccentric  John 
Clark,  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  taught  the  youth  of  these 
settlements  gratuitously.  He  was  a  good  scholar,  of  Scotch 
descent  and  education,  and  initiated  the  young  men  of  that 
day,  not  only  in  the  rudiments  of  an  English  education,  but 
in  several  instances  in  mathematics,  natural  philosophy  and 
the  Latin  language. '  '^ 

Governor  Reynolds  said  that  "in  the  county  of  Randolph 
there  was  not  a  single  school,  or  school-house  in  1800,  except 
John  Doyle,  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution  under  General  Clark, 
might  have  taught  a  few  children  in  Kaskaskia  at  or  after 
this  period." 

"In  the  settlement  of  New  Design,  an  Irishman,  not  well 
qualified,  called  Halfpenny,  at  this  period  instructed  some 
pupils.  This  school  was  the  only  one  amongst  the  Americans 
at  this  early  day.    In  the  American  Bottom,  perhaps  a  school 

» 111.  Hist.  Coll.  V.  2.  The  New  Regime,  1765-1767,  p.   272. 
^  Peck,  J.  M.,  Annals  of  the  West,  p.  707. 


18 

might  have  existed,  but  not  long  at  a  time.  Under  the  guid- 
ance of  the  Clergy  in  the  French  villages  at  rare  intervals, 
schools  were  established,  but  their  numbers  and  efficacy  were 
limited. '  '^ 

The  scarcity  of  schools,  the  opportunity  for  instruction, 
the  dearth  of  books,  and  the  ambition  of  some  youths,  who 
later  were  the  pioneer  leaders,  were  depicted  by  Governor 
Reynolds  in  these  words:  "Before  any  common  school  was 
established  in  the  settlement,  where  my  father  resided,  I 
mounted  a  ho.rse  nearly  every  evening  during  the  winter,  and 
rode  about  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  residence  of  James 
Hughes,  to  study  under  his  guidance  the  arithmetic.  Mr. 
Hughes,  although  he  was  raised  in  the  backwoods,  and  was 
filled  with  fun  and  frolic,  was  a  man  of  strong  mind,  and  a 
benevolent  heart.  He  took  great  pleasure  in  teaching  me 
arithmetic,  and  during  this  winter  I  studied  the  most  im- 
portant principles  contained  in  the  treatise." 

"We  had  not  the  least  idea  when  a  school  would  be 
established  in  the  neighborhood;  and  I  was  advancing  in 
years;  so  that  it  was  a  matter  of  necessity  to  study  with  Mr. 
Hughes." 

"This  was  the  first  step  I  took  towards  an  education, 
since  we  immigrated  to  Illinois.  I  attended  to  my  ordinary 
business  on  the  farm  during  the  day,  and  in  the  evenings 
after  the  stock  was  fed  I  studied  arithmetic  with  Mr.  Hughes. 
In  a  few  years  after,  schools  were  established  in  most  of  the 
colonies." 

"In  the  New  Design  Robert  Lemen,  an  aged  and  respect- 
able pioneer  of  Illinois,  taught  a  school.  Others  were  opened 
in  Goshen  Settlement,  and  other  colonies." 

"About  the  year  1805,  a  small  school  was  formed  in  the 
settlement,  where  my  father  resided.  I  was  a  scholar  at 
this  humble  institution  during  part  of  the  winters,  and  the 
wet  days,  we  could  not  work  on  the  farm,  for  one  or  two  years 
while  we  remained  in  the  settlement.  At  times  the  school 
w^as  not  kept  up  for  want  of  teachers.  The  scarcity  of  school 
books  was  also  a  great  inconvenience  to  the  scholar. ' ' 

"As  soon  as  I  commenced  the  study  of  arithmetic  with 
Mr.  Hughes,  I  commenced  also  an  ambition  and  a  small  en- 


'  Reynolds,  My  Own  Times,  p.  37. 


19 

thusiasm  for  education  generally.  This  disposition  induced 
me  to  study  and  read  almost  every  book  I  could  obtain.  It 
must  be  recollected  at  that  day  in  Illinois,  not  a  man  in  the 
country,  professional  or  otherwise,  had  any  collection  of 
books  that  could  acquire  the  name  of  a  library.  There  were 
some  books  scattered  through  the  country  but  they  were  not 
j)lentiful.  Although  my  father  was  a  reading  man,  and  pos- 
sessed of  a  strong  mind,  yet  as  far  as  I  recollect,  he  brought 
with  him  to  the  country  no  books,  except  the  Bible.  Many  of 
the  immigrants  acted  in  the  same  manner  as  to  books. ' ' 

''One  exception  I  remember  was:  That  John  Fulton, 
who,  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  my  father,  brought  with  him 
Eollin's  Ancient  History.  My  father  loaned  it,  and  I  read  it 
day  and  night  at  the  times  I  spared  from  labor.  This  was 
the  first  history  I  had  ever  seen,  and  it  gave  me  a  new  field 
of  mental  existence. ' ' 

' '  I  made  arrangement  with  my  father  to  go  all  one  winter 
to  school.  I  had  raised  a  colt  he  gave  me,  and  I  gave  it  to  a 
man  to  work  in  my  place  on  the  farm,  while  I  attended 
school. ' ' 

"At  this  school  I  studied  reading,  writing  and  arith- 
metic. I  revised  my  studies  of  arithmetic  I  had  commenced 
with  Mr.  Hughes.  It  was  my  energy  and  ambition  more, 
I  presume,  than  my  capacity:  But  I  learned  rapidly — so  my 
teachers  always  reported. ' ' 

''At  that  day,  neither  grammar,  geography,  nor  books  of 
science  ever  appeared  in  schools.  And  no  branch  of  mathe- 
matics was  taught  except  arithmetic.  The  custom  of  the  day 
was  also  to  study  the  lesson  aloud.  Each  one  in  the  school 
read  out  at  the  top  of  his  voice  if  it  suited  the  convenience  of 
the  scholar.    This  unenviable  habit  is  changed  at  this  day." 

' '  My  father  purchased  a  few  books,  and  among  them  was 
a  treatise  on  geography.  This  was  a  good  work  in  four  vol- 
umes, and  presented  a  tolerably  good  geography  of  the  in- 
habited globe.  In  this  work  was  also  contained  a  sketch  of 
astronomy,  and  particularly,  the  solar  system.  This  study 
surprised  and  astounded  me.  It  was  incomprehensible  to  me 
how  it  was  possible,  that  the  knowledge  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
could  be  obtained.  I  reflected  on  this  science  with  all  my 
humble  abilities,  and  became  well  instructed  on  it,  so  far  as 


20 

that  short  sketch  afforded  me  the  means.  My  father  under- 
stood the  general  principles  of  astronomy  tolerably  well, 
and  instructed  me  considerably  in  addition  to  the  treatise 
mentioned  above.  "^ 

About  the  time  Illinois  was  admitted  as  a  state  in  the 
Union,  educational  conditions  and  opportunities  were  scarce- 
ly better  than  those  which  Reynolds  described.  An  article 
in  the  Illinois  Intelligencer,  September  5,  1816,  says  that  ''at 
least  one-third  of  the  schools  were  really  a  public  nuisance, 
and  did  the  people  more  harm  than  good ;  another  third  about 
balanced  the  account,  by  doing  about  as  much  harm  as  good, 
and  perhaps  one-third  were  advantageous  to  the  community 
in  various  degrees. 

An  example  of  the  schools  in  Kaskaskia  appears  in  the 
same  paper,  January  1,  1818,  entitled  "To  the  Patrons  of 
Literature."  J.  Cheek  "Informs  the  friends  and  guardians 
of  erudition  that  he  has  opened  a  school  in  the  town  of  Kas- 
kaskia, for  the  instruction  of  youth,  in  the  different  depart- 
ments of  English  Literature.  He  will  extend  the  sphere  of 
instruction  so  as  to  include  the  following  sciences,  viz :  Read- 
ing, Writing,  Orthography,  Arithmetic,  English  Grammar, 
Geography,  History,  Rhetorick,  Composition,  Elocution,  etc. 
He  flatters  himself  that  from  his  attention  to  the  morals  and 
scientifick  avocations  of  his  pupils,  he  will  share  no  incon- 
siderable portion  of  the  patronage  of  the  judicious  and  dis- 
cerning people." 

"Mr.  Cross  respectfully  informs  his  fellow  citizens  of 
Kaskaskia,  and  its  vicinage,  that  he  intends,  should  sufficient 
patronage  be  afforded,  to  open  a  School  in  this  town,  for  the 
instruction  of  youth,  in  Orthography,  Orthoepy,  Reading, 
Writing,  English  Grammar,  Arithmetic  and  Elocution. 

"Scholars  who  have  graduated  in  these  branches  of 
tuition,  will  be  instructed  in  the  rudiments  of  History,  Geogra- 
phy, Natural  Philosophy  and  Mathematics. ' ' 

"Mr.  C.  will  endeavor  to  instill  in  the  minds  of  his 
scholars  the  vital  importance  of  sound  moral  principle,  and 
correct  manners,  which  he  will  elucidate,  by  a  regular  course 
of  lectures  every  Saturday.  As  soon  as  he  can  produce  the 
necessary  appendages,  his  school  will  be  Lancasterian.     No 

*  Reynolds,  My  Own  Times,  p.  92. 


21 

advance  payment  will  be  required,  but  a  punctual  compliance 
with  the  terms  of  subscription,  at  the  expiration  of  each 
quarter  is  confidently  calculated  upon."^ 

Eev.  Timothy  Flint,  a  contemporary  missionary  in 
Missouri  and  Illinois,  perhaps  justly  characterizes  such 
teachers  and  schools  in  the  following  manner:  "I  have  been 
amused  in  reading  puffing  advertisements  in  the  newspapers. 
A  little  subscription  school,  in  which  half  of  the  pupils  are 
abecedarians,  is  a  college.  One  is  a  Lancasterian  school,  or 
a  school  of  instruction  mutuelle.  There  is  the  Pestalozzi 
establishment,  with  its  appropriate  emblazoning.  There  is 
the  Agricultural  school,  the  Missionary  school,  the  Grammar 
school,  the  new  way  to  make  a  wit  of  a  dunce  in  six  lessons, 
and  all  the  mechanical  ways  of  inoculating  children  with 
learning,  that  they  may  not  endure  the  pain  of  getting  it  in 
the  old  and  natural  wa}^  I  would  not  have  you  smile  exclu- 
sively at  the  people  of  the  West.  This  ridiculous  species  of 
swindling  is  making  as  much  progress  in  your  country  as 
here.  The  misfortune  is,  that  these  vile  pretentions  finally 
induce  people  to  believe  that  there  is  a  royal  road  to  learn- 
ing. The  old  beaten  track,  marked  out  by  the  only  sure  guide, 
experience,  is  forsaken.  The  parents  are  flattered,  deceived, 
and  swindled.  Puffing  pretenders  take  the  place  of  the 
modest  men  of  science,  who  scorn  to  compete  with  him  in 
these  vile  arts.  The  children  have  their  brains  distended 
with  the  ''east  wind,"  and  grow  up  at  once  empty  and  con- 
tented." 

"These  founders  of  new  schools,  for  the  most  part,  ad- 
vertise themselves  from  London,  Paris,  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  Boston,  and  all  have  performed  exploits,  in  the  regions 
whence  they  came,  and  bring  the  latest  improvements  with 
them.  And  to  what  they  can  do,  and  what  they  will  do,  the 
object  is  to  lay  on  the  colouring  thick  and  threefold.  A  re- 
spectable man  wishes  to  establish  himself  in  a  school  in  these 
regions.  He  consults  a  friend,  who  knows  the  meridian  of 
the  country.  The  advice  is,  Call  your  school  by  some  new 
and  imposing  name.  Let  it  be  understood,  that  you  have 
a  new  w^ay  of  instructing  children,  by  which  they  can  learn 
twice  as  much,  in  half  the  time,  as  by  the  old  ways.    Throw 

'Illinois  Intelligencer,  January  6.   1819. 


22 

off  all  modesty.  Move  the  water,  and  get  in  while  it  is  mov- 
ing. In  short,  depend  upon  the  gullibility  of  the  people.  A 
school,  modeled  on  this  advice,  was  instituted  in  St.  Louis, 
while  I  was  there,  with  a  very  imposing  name.  The  masters 
— professors,  I  should  say — propose  to  teach  most  of  the 
languages,  and  all  the  sciences.  Hebrew,  they  would  com- 
municate in  twelve  lessons :  Latin  and  Greek,  with  a  propor- 
tionate promptness.  These  men,  who  were  to  teach  all  this, 
themselves,  had  read  Erasmus  with  a  translation,  and  knew 
the  Greek  alphabet,  and  in  their  public  discourses,  for  they 
were  ministers,  sometimes  dealt  very  abusively  with  the 
'king's  English.'  "* 

More  definite  undertakings  than  those  described  above 
for  secondary  education  in  this  early  period,  were  Belleville 
Academy  and  the  preparatory  department  of  Vincennes 
University. 

Governor  Reynolds  says:  ''In  the  school  near  my 
father's  the  teacher  was  unable  to  instruct  any  of  his 
students  in  the  higher  branches  of  mathematics,  or  the 
sciences,  and  I  made  arrangements  with  the  consent  of  my 
father,  that  I  should  attend,  during  the  winter  of  1806  and 
1807,  a  good  school,  taught  by  a  competent  teacher.  This 
school  was  situated  a  few  miles  east  of  the  present  city  of 
Belleville  on  the  land  of  the  present  Mr.  Schreader.  I  have 
often  examined,  with  deep  feeling,  the  tumult  of  earth  where 
this  school  once  stood.  I  revere  and  respect  the  site  with 
the  same  feeling  as  the  Jews  in  ancient  times  did  the  city  of 
Jerusalem." 

"At  this  seminary,  I  studied  land  surveying  and  naviga- 
tion. I  attended  also,  reading,  spelling  and  writing.  I  be- 
came well  conversant  in  the  general  principles  of  mathe- 
matics, and  particularly  in  the  science  of  land  surveying. 
My  compass  and  mathematical  books,  I  retain  to  this  day.  I 
studied  various  branches  of  mathematics,  and  the  sciences, 
until  I  calculated  an  almanac,  but  it  was  never  printed.  At 
that  day,  I  never  saw  a  printing  office.  At  this  school  where 
I  learned  surveying,  I  studied  also  bookkeeping,  of  which  I 
thought  very  little — my  writing  in  this  study  improved  my 
penmanship,  but  I  think  not  very  much  my  knowledge."* 

•  Flint,   Recollections  of  the  Last  Ten  Tears,  p.   185. 
•Reynolds,  My  Own  Times,  p.  94. 


23 

The  earliest  chartered  academy  serving  the  territory  of 
Illinois  was  the  preparatory  department  of  Vincennes  Uni- 
versity. March  26,  1804,  four  years  after  the  organization 
of  the  Indiana  territory,  of  which  Illinois  was  a  part  until 
1809,  the  federal  government  reserved  one  entire  township 
"to  be  located  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  for  the  use 
of  a  Seminary  of  Learning. ' ' '  Secretary  Gallatin  selected 
a  township  in  Gibson  County,  the  chief  city  of  w^hich  was 
Vinconnes.  Thereupon,  the  first  territorial  assembly,  Novem- 
ber 29,  1806,  passed  "An  Act  to  incorporate  a  University 
in  Indiana  territory."  This  enactment  bears  the  signatures 
of  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  P.  Menard,  President,  pro-tem,  of  the  Legislative 
Council,  both  Illinois  men  whose  names  were  written  large  in 
the  government  of  the  state. 

The  philosophy  underlying  the  conception  of  this  act 
is  well  stated  in  the  preamble: 

"Whereas,  the  independence,  happiness  and  energy  of 
every  republic  depends  (under  the  influence  of  the  destinies 
of  Heaven)  upon  the  wisdom,  virtue,  talents  and  energy  of 
its  citizens  and  rulers, 

"And,  whereas,  science,  literature  and  the  liberal  arts 
contribute  m  an  eminent  degree  to  improve  those  qualities 
and  acquirements, 

"And,  whereas,  learning  hath  ever  been  found  the  ablest 
advocate  of  genuine  liberty,  the  best  supporter  of  rational 
religion  and  the  source  of  the  onlj^  solid  and  imperishable 
glory  which  nations  can  acquire." 

"And,  fore  as  much  as  Literature  and  Philosophy  furnish 
the  most  useful  and  pleasing  occupations,  improving  and 
varying  the  enio^onents  of  prosperitj^,  affording  relief  under 
the  pressure  of  misfortunes,  and  hope  and  consolation  in  the 
hours  of  death," 

"And  considering  that  in  a  Commonwealth  Avhere  the 
humblest  citizens  may  be  elected  to  the  highest  office,  and 
where  the  Heaven-born  prerogative  of  the  right  to  elect, 
and  to  reject,  is  retained  and  secured  to  the  citizens,  the 
knowledge  which  is  requisite  for  a  magistrate  and  elector 
should  be  widely  diffused :    Be  it  therefore  enacted,  etc.^ 

'Hist.  Sketch  of  Ind.  Uni..  1820-1904,  p.  1. 
8  State  Supt.  Report,  18S5,  p.  105. 


24 

The  board  of  trustees  was  organized  December  6,  1806, 
with  William  Henry  Harrison,  President;  fmids  were  raised 
by  gifts,  lotteries  and  the  sale  of  part  of  the  congressional 
grant;  a  bricl:  building  was  erected  and  a  preparatory  de- 
partment started.  However,  it  is  doubtful  whether  this 
academy  amounted  to  much,  because  Indiana,  itself,  failed  to 
recognize  the  school  when  statehood  was  obtained  in  1816. 
Besides  the  Illinois  territorial  legislature  said  nothing  about 
education  during  the  nine  years  of  its  existence,  1809-1818. 

The  educational  practices  of  this  period  were  concerned 
mostly  mth  ' '  class ' '  schools.  The  aristocratic  tendencies  of  the 
Revolutionary  days  had  not  yet  disappeared.  Though  some 
primary  education  was  given,  the  dominant  idea  w^as  still  that 
of  the  old  Latin  grammar  school  and  its  successor,  the 
academy.  Private  instruction  usually  had  the  ''dead"  lan- 
guages and  other  secondary  subjects  in  the  curriculum.  The 
equipment,  however,  in  books  and  apparatus,  was  severely 
lacking,  though  schoolmasters  tried  to  be  abreast  of  the 
times,  at  least  in  the  names  given  to  their  schools.  The 
teachers,  who  were  usually  the  proprietors,  were  in  too  many 
instances  romantic  free-lances  with  the  soldier-of-fortune 
attitude.  Their  language,  as-  that  of  the  day,  was  bombastic 
and  oratorical  in  style.  However,  the  intellectual  leaders 
of  the  day  realized  the  swindling  game  of  the  quack  instruct- 
ors, and  made  definite  attempts  to  establish  a  system  of  edu- 
cation among  the  mass  of  the  people  as  the  buhvark  of  liberty 
in  a  republican  governnient. 

'"The  dire  poverty  of  the  settlers,  the  hardships  of  fron- 
tier life,  the  long  Indian  wars,  the  pittance  which  the  lands 
yielded  even  when  used  for  school  purposes,  were  all  so  many 
hindrances,"  to  the  establishment  of  a  system  of  education.^ 

"But  in  spite  of  the  prejudices  and  illiteracy  of  many 
of  our  early  citizens,  they  were  by  no  means  an  unthinking 
people;  their  minds  were  stimulated  by  the  necessity  of  in- 
vention imposed  upon  them  by  their  peculiar  circumstances; 
by  political  discussions  in  which  they  were  interested  from 
one  election  to  another ;  by  moral  questions  that  were  debated 
among  them;  and,  above  all,  by  the  religious  discourses  to 
which  they  often  listened,  and  the  controversies  between  the 


•McMaster.  Hist,  of  the  People  of  the  U.  S.,  v.  5,  p.  370. 


25 

adherents  of  different  sects,  in  which  almost  everybody 
sympathized  with  one  party  or  another.'"" 

In  the  words  of  the  eminent  governor,  Mr.  Coles,  ''there 
is  no  subject  claiming  the  attention  of  the  legislature  of  more 
vital  importance  to  the  welfare  of  the  state  and  its  future 
greatness  and  respectability,  than  the  provision  which  should 
be  made  for  the  education  of  the  rising  and  succeeding  gene- 
rations. Intelligence  and  virtue  are  the  main  pillars  in  the 
temple  of  liberty.  A  government  founded  on  the  sovereignty 
of  the  people,  and  resting  on,  and  controlled  by  them  cannot 
be  respectable,  or  even  long  endure,  unless  they  are  enlight- 
ened. To  preserve  and  hand  down  to  a  continuous  line  of 
generations,  that  liberty  which  was  obtained  by  the  valor  and 
virtue  of  our  forefathers,  we  must  make  provision  for  the 
moral  and  intellectual  improvement  of  those  who  are  to  fol- 
low us,  and  who  are  to  inherit  and  have  the  disposal  of  the 
inestimable  boon  of  self  government,"'^ 

In  conclusion,  one  must  say  that  the  education  of  the 
early  period  was  wholly  individualistic  with  little  realization 
of  the  theoretical  plans.  A  British  traveller,  in  1765,  peti- 
tioned the  King  for  the  right  to  establish  a  school  in  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  in  order  to  teach  the  English,  French 
and  Indians,  the  useful  arts  of  knowledge.  The  little  instruc- 
tion that  was  given  was  usually  through  the  efforts  of  some- 
one in  the  community  who  had  had  educational  advantages 
in  the  older  states.  Frequently,  a  missionary  preacher  open- 
ed up  a  Latin  grammar  school  in  his  own  house,  or  an 
academy  was  established  where  a  knowledge  of  the  languages, 
philosophy  and  some  practical  subjects  was  kept  alive. 
Itinerant  teachers  appeared  in  the  villages  and  purported  to 
bring  from  the  Eastern  and  European  centers  of  culture  the 
newest  and  most  approved  methods  of  teaching.  In  reality, 
thej^  were  without  character,  knowledge,  or  means  of  sup- 
port. To  keep  the  ideal  of  democracy  alive,  and  to  perpetuate 
free  institutions,  the  territorial  legislature  established  an 
academy  at  Vincennes,  1806,  which  they  hoped  to  have  sup- 
ported from  the  proceeds  of  the  liberal  land  grants  made  by 
the   national   government.     The   career   of   this    institution 


"Patterson,  Early  Society  in  So.  III.,  Ferg-.  Hist.  Ser.,  v.  14,  p.  124. 
"  Coles  Message  to  the  Legislature,  Sen.  Jr.,  1824,  p.   19. 


"26 

ended  in  failure  because  it  was  planted  in  a  wilderness  where 
protection  from  Indians,  clearing  the  land,  and  earning  a 
living,  were  the  prime  considerations  of  the  emigrants.  But 
Illinois  legislatures  continued  to  encourage  education  by  en- 
acting legislation  favorable  to  the  academy,  which  is  the 
subject  of  the  next  chapter. 


27 


CHAPTER  III. 


Administrative  Organization  and  Support. 

The  academy  arose  as  an  institution  partly  to  meet  the 
demands  of  a  constantly  growing  republican  society.  While 
it  was  a  school  under  the  control  of  either  public  or  private 
incorporation  of  trustees,  it  was  recognized  throughout  the 
country  in  theory,  as  a  semi-public  institution.  Most  of  the 
eastern,  southern  and  middle  states  recogTiized  its  public 
function  by  assisting  in  its  foundation  and  support.  Public 
lands,  as  in  Georgia,  by  the  act  of  1783,  was  one  of  the  bases 
of  endowment,  while  New  York,  in  1813,  established  a  literary 
fund  the  income  from  which  was  distributed  to  the  academies, 

Illinois,  likewise,  recognized  the  public  function  of  the 
academies  by  giving  legislative  sanction  to  groups  of  indi- 
viduals to  establish  such  schools.  The  poor  should  always 
be  taken  care  of;  boys  and  girls  of  all  classes  should  be 
educated  free  when  the  funds  of  the  local  institutions  per- 
mitted ;  religious  freedom  was  insisted  upon ;  occasionally,  the 
trustees  were  elected  by  the  public  at  large,  and  the  legisla- 
ture regarded  its  own  action,  public.  Moreover,  the  state 
allowed  and  sanctioned,  in  some  instances,  the  use  of  the 
income  from  the  school  lands  for  the  support  of  academies; 
distributed  to  the  academies  their  share  of  the  common  school 
fund,  and  allowed  communities  to  tax  themselves  for  the 
support  of  such  institutions. 

In  fact,  the  academy  was  permitted  to  do  almost  any- 
thing. The  legislature  assumed  no  continuous  policy  in  the 
charters  that  it  granted.  The  powers,  duties  and  organization 
were  left  to  the  will  of  the  incorporators  generally.  The 
laissez  faire  policy  of  the  government  followed  the  conscious 
democratic  ideal  of  individual  liberty  after  chartering  the 
institution.  The  administrators  had  particular  purposes  in 
view  which  they  wanted  executed.     Girls  who  had  had  little 


28 

opportunity  in  the  colonial  Latin  grammar  schools  of  the 
East  were  here  admitted  on  almost  equal  terms.  Boys  were 
educated  in  separate  institutions  or  with  the  girls  in  the  same 
institution.  Intellectual,  moral  or  physical  aims  were  empha- 
sized as  the  educational  ideal  according  to  the  bias  of  the 
organizers.  The  whole  country,  however,  was  agreed  that 
the  academy  should  supply  teachers  for  the  common  schools, 
so  that  it  was  in  reality  the  forerunner  of  the  normal  schools. 
A  closer  examination  of  the  administrative  organization,  pur- 
poses, and  the  financial  support  of  the  academy,  follows: 

From  1818  to  1848,  the  legislature  of  Illinois  granted 
charters  to  125  educational  corporations  by  special  act,  rather 
than  by  general  law.  Although  a  corporation  law  was  en- 
acted in  1848,  the  general  assembly  continued  to  charter 
schools  by  special  legislation  until  the  adoption  of  the  con- 
stitution of  1870,  which  forbade  specific  laws  for  corporations 
of  learning  except  those  under  the  control  of  the  state. ^ 

The  first  general  assembly  chartered  Belleville,  Madison 
and  Washington  Academies,  the  first  and  last  of  which  were 
soon  in  operation.  The  semi-public  character  of  the  char- 
tered and  some  of  the  private  academies  was  shown  in  these 
ways: 

1.  A  group  of  the  community  imdertook  to  educate  its 
youth:  "Whereas  several  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Ed- 
wardsville  and  county  of  Madison,  have  entered  into  arrange- 
ments, to  build,  by  subscription  amongst  themselves,  an 
academy  for  the  education  of  youth ;  and  Avhereas  so  laudable 
and  useful  an  undertaking  is  deserving  of  legislative  sanc- 
tion, therefore,  be  it  enacted  *  *  *"" 

2.  The  trustees  of  Belleville,  Madison  and  Washington 
,  Academies  were  trustees  of  the  towns  in  which  the  academies 

were  located.  In  fact,  suffrage  was  defined  in  these  charters, 
and  those  who  voted  for  town  trustees  elected  academic  trus- 
tees." 

3.  Many  of  the  charters  carried  provision  for  the  free 
education  of  the  poor,  and  a  few,  for  the  free  education  of 
the  Indian:  "And,  whereas,  the  establishment  of  an  institu- 
tion of  this  kind  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  aboriginees  of 


*  Harker,  III.  Ed.  Cor.  under  Special  Charter. 

*  Session  Laws,  I.  Sess.,  p.  48. 


29 

the  country  may  tend  to  the  gradual  civilization  of  the  rising 
generation,  and,  if  properly  conducted,  be  of  essential  service 
to  themselves,  and  contribute  greatly  to  the  cause  of  human- 
ity and  brotherly  love,  which  all  men  ought  to  bear  to  each 
other,  of  whatever  colour,  and  tend  also  to  preserve  that 
friendship  and  harmony  which  ought  to  exist  between  the 
government  and  the  Indians.  Be  it,  therefore,  enacted,  and 
it  is  hereby  enjoined  on  the  said  Trustees  to  use  their  utmost 
endeavors  to  induce  the  said  aboriginees  to  send  their  chil- 
dren to  the  university  for  education,  who,  when  sent,  shall 
be  maintained,  clothed  and  educated  at  the  expense  of  the 
said  institution."-  Also,  ''The  trustees  shall  be  enjoined  to 
cause  the  children  of  the  poor  people,  in  the  said  county,  to 
be  instructed  gratis."-  Even,  it  was  contemplated,  when  the 
funds  of  the  institution  should  permit  that  all  the  youth  were 
to  be  instructed  free,  "in  all  or  any  of  the  branches  of  educa- 
tion which  they  may  require.  "" 

4.  In  other  than  academies  for  female  education,  it  was 
provided  that  girls  as  well  as  boys  were  to  be  educated,  when 
sufficient  money  was  at  hand:  "That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  trustees,  as  soon  as  the  funds  of  the  academy  will  admit 
of  it,  to  establish  an  institution  for  the  education  of  females ; 
and  to  make  such  by-laws  and  ordinances  for  the  government 
thereof,  as  they  shall  deem  proper  and  necessary."® 

5.  In  practically  every  charter  that  was  granted,  religi- 
ous freedom  was  recognized  as  a  public  duty.  "No  prefer- 
ence shall  be  given,  nor  any  discrimination  be  made  in  the 
choice  of  trustees,  professors,  teachers  or  students,  on  account 
of  religious  sentiments ;  nor  shall  the  trustees,  professors,  or 
teachers,  at  any  time  make  by-laws,  or  ordinances,  or  regu- 
lations, that  may  in  any  wise  interfere  with,  or  in  any  man- 
ner, control  the  right  of  conscience  or  the  free  exercise  of 
religious  worship."* 

6.  Public  election  of  the  trustees  in  several  of  the  char- 
tered academies  was  required;  "And,  be  it  further  enacted, 
that  all  free  white  male  inhabitants  of  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years  who  have  resided  for  six  months  immediately  preced- 


"  Session  Laws,  I.  Sess.,  p.  48. 
'State  Supt.  Report,  1885,  p.   105. 

♦In  1841,  the  legislature  repealed  the  clause  of  the  law  which  had  forbidden 
the  establishment  of  theological  departments  in  Academies  and  Colleges. 


30 

ing  the  election  within  the  following  limit shall  be,  and 

hereby  authorized  to  elect  seven  trustees  on  the  forenoon  of 
the  day  appointed  for  the  election  of  members  to  the  next 
general  assembly  of  this  state,  and  on  such  election  day  for- 
ever thereafter."* 

7.  The  legislature,  itself,  specifically  stated  that  it  re- 
garded such  charters  as  public  acts:  "Be  it,  further  enacted, 
that  this  act  shall  be  deemed  to  be  a  public  act,  and  as  such 
shall  be  construed  benignly  and  favorably,  in  all  courts  and 
places  for  every  beneficial  purpose  therein  mentioned."* 

Ordinarily,  the  preambles  of  the  charters,  or  the  charters 
themselves,  or  constitutions  of  school  societies,  explained  the 
purpose  for  which  the  organizations  were  made. 

1.  The  most  usual  statement  of  the  purpose  of  these 
associations  was  that,  "the  dissemination  of  useful  knowl- 
edge should  be  the  only  object  contemplated."* 

2.  The  preamble  of  the  •  Jacksonville  Academy  stated 
that  the  high,  intellectual  and  moral  culture  of  women  was 
its  object:  "Whereas,  the  vast  importance  and  urgent  neces- 
sity of  extending  the  blessings  of  Education  to  all  classes  of 
American  Citizens  are  felt  and  acknowledged  by  all  enlight- 
ened patriots  and  Christians;  and,  whereas,  the  power  of 
female  influence  over  the  intellectual  and  moral  character  of 
the  community  must  ever  be  too  great  for  any  or  all  other 
causes  entirely  to  counteract.  Commencing  as  it  does  with 
the  first  dawn  of  infant  intelligence  and  forming  perhaps 
the  most  important  and  certainly,  the  most  desirable  part  of 
that  character,  before  any  other  cause  can  begin  to  act  upon 
it,  and  accompanying  it  through  all  the  subsequent  stages 
of  its  development;  considering,  too,  that  in  the  present  im- 
portant crisis  of  our  beloved  Republic,  no  one  effort  ought  to 
be  withheld  which  can  tend  to  give  permanency  to  its  founda- 
tions, the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  people;  therefore. 
Resolved,  that  an  academy  ought  to  be  immediately  estab- 
lished in  this  state,  to  be  devoted  exclusively  to  female  edu- 
cation; and  that  Jacksonville,  in  Morgan  county,  is,  in  our 
opinion,  a  situation  highly  favorable  for  the  successful  oper- 
ation of  such  an  institution."^ 


*  Session  Laws,  T.  Sess.,  p.  48. 

'Session  Laws,  1834-5,  State  Rep.  1867,  p.  264. 


31 

3.  The  Bloomington  Female  Seminary,  intended  to  pro- 
mote the  general  interests  of  education,  "and  to  qualify 
young  females  for  the  honorable  and  useful  discharge  of  the 
various  duties  of  life.'"* 

4.  Some  of  the  academies  had  a  normal  school  depart- 
ment for  the  education  of  teachers.  '*A  department  is  at- 
tached to  this  school  for  the  instruction  of  teachers."^ 

5.  The  Hillsboro  Academy  was  an  example  of  an  institu- 
tion that  existed  for  the  education  of  both  boys  and  girls: 
''The  design  of  the  institution  is  to  accommodate  those  of 
either  sex  who  may  wish  to  pursue  a  systematic  and  thorough 
course  in  Education,  in  the  various  English  branches  or  in 
the  languages."* 

6.  The  Eushville  High  School  Association  declared: 
"The  sole  object  of  this  corporation  shall  be  for  the  promo- 
tion of  science  and  literature,  and  the  general  interest  of 
Education,  and  its  corporate  powers  shall  be  similar  to  those 
conferred  upon  other  corporate  bodies  for  the  advancement 
of  education."^ 

7.  A  distinctly  moral  purpose  was  given  as  the  reason 
for  establishing  some  academies.  Monticello  Seminary  was 
founded  on  the  principle  that  education  should  have  refer- 
ence to  man's  relation  to  God,  Christ,  and  the  future  world, 
in  accordance  with  the  Christian  religion.^ 

8.  The  physical  education  of  the  students  was  one  pur- 
pose for  which  some  schools  were  established,  but  there  is  no 
evidence  that  physical  education  as  we  now  understand  the 
meaning  of  that  term  was  given. 

9.  The  trustees  of  the  Monroe  Academy  were  library 
trustees,  whose  additional  duty  was  to  circulate  books  among 
the  people  of  the  community:  "That  there  shall  be  estab- 
lished in  the  said  county,  a  public  library,  to  be  called  the 
Monroe  Circulating  Library,  and  that  the  trustees  of  the  said 
academy  shall  be  the  directors  of  the  said  library  society, 
who  shall  have  power  to  make  such  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  government  of  the  same,  as  they  shall  deem  proper."^" 


'Session  Laws,   1835-6. 
'  Sangamo  Jr.,   Oct.   21,   1837. 
sSangamo  Jr.,  Oct.  21.  1837. 
•Session  Laws,   1844-5,  p.   311. 
"Session  Laws,  1827. 


32 

10.  Several  academies  were  established  as  manual  labor 
schools,  of  which  more  will  be  said  later. 

11.  Finally,  some  school  associations  were  formed  for 
the  education  of  all  of  the  children  of  the  locality — "all," 
meaning  the  children  of  the  common  people." 

One  of  the  most  interesting  and  unusual  ways  of  electing 
the  seven  trustees  for  each  of  the  first  three  academies  is 
defined  in  the  following  manner:  "Be  it  farther  enacted  by 
the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  several  persons  herein  be- 
fore named,  to  wit:  Benjamin  Stephenson,  Joseph  Bowers, 
Robert  Latham,  John  Todd,  Joseph  Conway,  Abraham 
Prickett,  and  Theopholis  W.  Smith,  be  and  they  are  hereby 
appointed  trustees  in  the  town  of  Edwardsville  in  the  afore- 
said county  of  Madison  to  continue  in  office  until  the  election 
of  their  successors  as  herein  after  provided."  The  time  for 
the  election  is  stated  in  the  act,  notification  of  which  was 
posted  in  public  places,  the  election  district  is  defined,  and 
the  qualifications  for  suffrage  are  given.^^ 

Danville  Academy,  a  public  joint  stock  company,  ap- 
pointed twenty-seven  commissioners  from  the  five  surround- 
ing counties  to  solicit  and  receive  stock.  When  $1,500  had 
been  collected,  the  commissioners  were  to  call  an  election  in 
three  weeks,  notice  of  which  was  to  be  posted  in  six  of  the 
most  public  places  in  the  county,  of  the  time  of  holding  the 
election  for  trustees.  The  election  was  held  at  the  court 
house  in  Danville  between  the  hours  of  twelve  and  six  p.  m. 
of  the  day  determined  upon.  Moreover,  the  commissioners 
were  appointed  to  act  as  judges  of  the  election.  Subsequent 
elections  were  to  be  held  annually,  the  first  Monday  in  Oc- 
tober. Those  who  had  the  privilege  of  voting  for  trustees 
were  stockholders  who  had  paid  on,  or  before  the  said  elec- 
tion day,  five  dollars  on  each  share  subscribed  and  the  re- 
mainder, within  six  months. ^^ 

The  church  was  represented  on  the  board  of  trustees  of 
many  academies:  "The  trustees  of  this  institution  shall  con- 
sist of  nine,  who  shall  be  elected  as  follows :  one-third  of  the 
whole  number  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  N.  S.  of  Rushville, 
one-third  by  the   stockholders,   and   the* remaining  by  the 

"  Sangamo  Jr.,  June  5,  1845. 
"Session  Laws,  I.  Sess.,  1819,  p.  48. 
13  Session  Laws,   1836-37. 


33 

patrons  of  the  school  for  the  time  being,  and  they  shall  hold 
their  office  for  the  time  of  three  years.'"* 

Moreover,  this  method  for  the  perpetual  succession  of 
policy  was  provided:  the  trustees  were  to  hold  ''their  office 
for  the  term  of  three  years,  except  from  the  first  election, 
when  one-third  of  the  number  shall  be  elected  for  three  years, 
one-third  for  the  term  of  two  years,  and  the  remaining  for 
the  term  of  one  year,  and  any  year  thereafter,  one-third  of 
the  whole  number  shall  be  elected  for  the  term  of  three  years, 
at  such  a  time  and  in  such  a  manner  as  may  be  prescribed  by 
the  by-laws  of  the  institution.'"* 

Town  trustees,  ministers  of  religion,  county  school  com- 
missioners and  stockholders  were  members  of  the  board  of 
trustees;  the  term  of  office,  manner  of  election,  and  number 
varied  to  suit  the  ideas  of  the  incorporators  rather  than  fol- 
lowing, or  having  a  fixed  policy  of  administrative  organi- 
zation. 

The  powers  and  duties  of  the  trustees  of  the  academies 
covered  a  wide  range.  They  called  special  meetings  to  trans- 
act the  business  of  the  academy;  made  contracts  for  the  re- 
pairing and  erection  of  buildings;  passed  by-laws  and  ordi- 
nances for  the  conduct  and  govermnent  of  the  school;  filled 
vacancies  in  their  own  body;  elected  a  principal  and  teach- 
ers; determined  salaries;  removed  officers  for  misconduct; 
appointed  committees  of  their  own  number;  received  money 
subscribed  for  the  institution,  and  appointed  their  own  treas- 
urer, secretary,  stewards,  managers  and  other  necessary 
officers. 

''The  chairman  of  the  board  shall  have  power  to  call 
special  meetings,  giving  five  days  previous  notice  thereof,  a 
majority  at  any  stated,  adjourned  or  special  meeting,  shall 
form  a  board  of  quorum,  and  a  majority  of  them  shall  be 
capable  of  doing  and  transacting  all  the  business  and  con- 
cerns of  the  said  academy,  and  particularly  of  entering  into 
contracts  for  erecting  and  repairing  any  building  or  build- 
ings necessary  for  the  said  institutions,  of  making  and  enact- 
ing by-laws  and  ordinances  for  the  government  of  the  said 
academy  and  not  contrary  to  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the 
United  States,  or  of  this  state;  of  filling  vacancies  in  the 

"Session  Laws,  1844-5,  p.  311. 


34 

board  of  trustees  occasioned  by  death,  resignation  or  removal 
out  of  the  state;  of  electing  and  appointing  the  principal 
professors  and  teachers  of  said  academy;  of  agreeing  with 
them  for  their  salaries,  and  of  removing  them  for  misconduct, 
or  breach  of  the  laws  of  the  institution;  of  appointing  com- 
mittees of  their  own  body  to  carry  into  execution  all  and 
every  resolution  of  the  board;  of  appointing  a  chairman, 
treasurer  and  secretary,  out  of  their  own  number;  and  stew- 
ards, managers,  and  other  customary  officers  for  the  taking 
care  of  the  estate,  and  management  of  the  concerns  of  the 
institution." 

The  trustees  of  the  chartered  academies,  after  1830,  were 
specifically  made  bodies  politic  and  corporate,  "with  power 
to  sue  and  be  sued,  plead  and  be  impleaded,  to  acquire,  hold 
and  convey  property,  real  and  personal,  to  have  and  to  use  a 
common  seal,  to  alter  the  same  at  pleasure,  to  make  laws  for 
its  regulation  provided  they  are  not  inconsistent  with  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  and  this  state. '  '^^ 

Some  restrictions  of  power  placed  upon  trustees  were 
that  they  should  "hold  the  property  of  the  said  institution 
for  the  purpose  of  female  education,  and  not  as  a  stock  for 
individual  benefit  of  themselves,  or  of  any  contribution  to  the 
endowment  of  the  same;  and  no  particular  religious  faith 
shall  be  required  of  those  who  become  trustees  or  students 
of  the  institution."^*^ 

Sometimes  the  trustees  regulated  and  prescribed  the 
course  of  study;  fixed  the  rate  of  tuition;  purchased  books 
and  regulated  the  conduct  of  pupils:  "The  trustees  of  said 
high  school  association  shall  have  authority  from  time  to 
time  to  prescribe  and  regulate  the  course  of  studies  to  be 
pursued  in  said  high  school,  and  in  the  preparatory  depart- 
ment thereof;  to  fix  the  rate  of  tuition,  to  make  rules  for  the 
general  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  said  high  school, 
and  for  the  regulation  of  the  conduct  of  the  students,  and  to 
add,  as  the  ability  of  the  said  corporation  shall  increase,  and 
the  interest  of  the  community  shall  require,  additional  de- 
partments, for  the  study  of  all  or  any  of  the  solid,  useful  and 


"  Session   Laws,    I.   Sess.,   p.    48. 
"Session  Laws,  1834-1835,  Sec.  1. 


35 

profitable    branches    of   classical,   mathematical    and    philo- 
sophical literature.'"' 

Financial  Support. 

School  lands,  very  early,  were  the  basis  of  any  state  sup- 
port that  was  given  to  the  academies.  An  act  approved  Jan- 
uary 27,  1821,  by  the  state,  gave  the  trustees  of  Belleville 
Academy  the  ''power  and  authority  to  lease  out,  upon  such 
terms  and  conditions  as  to  them  shall  seem  meet,  for  any 
time  not  exceeding  ten  years,  section  number  sixteen,  in  town- 
ship number  one,  north  of  range  number  eight,  west  of  the 
third  meridian,  reserved  for  the  use  of  schools,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  inhabitants  of  said  township." 

''Be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  trustees  of  Belleville 
Academy  shall  and  may  appropriate  one-half  of  the  net  pro- 
ceeds of  the  annual  profits  accruing  from  the  rents  of  said 
sixteenth  section,  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  said  academy,  and 
shall  reserve  the  other  half  of  said  rents  and  profit,  to  and 
for  the  use  of  schools  in  the  north  half  of  said  township,  to 
be  paid  over  and  applied  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  pointed 
out  by  law." 

"Be  it  further  enacted.  That  there  shall  be  a  meeting  of 
the  male  inhabitants  above  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  re- 
siding in  the  north  half  of  said  township,  at  Belleville,  on  the 
first  Monday  in  April  next;  which  meeting  shall  take  into 
consideration  the  propriety  of  permitting  the  trustees  of 
Belleville  Academy  to  apply  the  whole  of  the  rents  and  profit 
to  the  said  Academy,  and  should  said  meeting  consent,  the 
whole  of  the  rents  and  profits  of  said  section  shall  be  applied 
to  the  use  of  said  Academy  for  such  term  of  time  as  said 
meeting  shall  agree  to."^^ 

The  state  at  other  times  authorized  the  use  of  some  of 
the  money  of  the  township  fund  for  the  establishment  of  a 
school:  "The  inhabitants  of  township  five  south,  range  six 
east,  of  the  third  principal  meridian,  upon  being  incorpor- 
ated as  required  by  law  for  school  purposes,  be  and  they  are  . 
hereby  authorized  to  use  the  sum  of  two  hundred  dollars  of 
the  interest  accruing  from  said  township  fund,  to  the  erec- 


"  Session  Laws,  1844-1845.  Sec.  3,  p.   311. 
"  Session  Laws,  1821,  p.  34. 


36 

tion  of  a  frame  or  brick  schoolhouso  in  tLe  town  of  McLeans- 
boro  in  said  township.'"^ 

Another  example  of  aid  given  by  the  state  is  that  in 
which  "the  school  commissioners  of  Jeiferson  County  be  au- 
thorized and  required  to  receive  the  said  schedule  of  the 
school  taught  in  the  Mount  Vernon  Academy  in  the  year  1840, 
and  duly  certified  by  the  trustees  and  teachers  thereof,  and 
apportioned  thereon  its  distributive  share  of  interest  of  the 
school  fund  due  for  1842,  according  to  the  schedules  filed  for 
distribution  in  January,  1843;  provided  that  all  schedules  in 
said  county,  regularly  certified  for  that  year,  and  notified  to 
rhe  said  commissioner  before  he  actually  made  the  apportion- 
ment of  interest  of  that  year,  shall  be  paid  in  like  manner. ' '  ^° 

Furthermore,  the  state  authorized  money  to  be  paid  to 
some  academies:  ''The  school  commissioner  of  Coles  county 
is  hereby  authorized  and  required  to  pay  to  the  order  of  the 
president  and  trustees  of  the  Charleston  Seminary  two  hun- 
dred dollars  per  year,  out  of  the  distributive  share  of  the 
state  fund,  for  the  purpose  of  education,  to  the  county  of 
Coles;  and  the  said  trustees  are  hereby  authorized  to  expend 
said  money  in  such  manner  as  they  may  think  proper  for  the 
use  and  benefit  of  said  seminary.  "^^ 

It  was  the  common  practice  for  academies  to  receive 
their  distributive  share  out  of  the  township  school  fund  for 
maintaining  a  common  school.  The  act  of  1835  distributed 
the  interest  from  the  state  school  fund  to  counties  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  inhabitants  under  twenty-one  years  of 
age.  "Nor  shall  this  act  be  so  construed  so  as  to  prevent  said 
school  from  receiving  its  just  proportion  from  the  township 
and  state  fund,  as  other  schools  do;  and  said  trustees  shall 
perform  the  same  duties  in  regard  to  said  school,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  their  proportion  of  said  school  fund,  as  is 
or  may  be  required  of  trustees  of  schools  in  other  town- 
ships."" 

The  law  relative  to  the  Winchester  male  and  female  pre- 
paratory and  common  school  said  that  "nothing  in  this  act 
shall   be   so   construed   as   to  prevent   either   of  the   above 


"Session  Laws,  1837.  p.  16. 
2»  Session  Laws,  1842-3,  p.   6. 
"Session  Laws,  1839-40,  p.  131. 
»2  Session  Laws,  1839-40,  p.   56. 


37 

named  institutions  from  receiving  their  proper  proportions 
of  money  appropriated  by  law  for  common  school  pur- 
poses.""^ 

Even  organizations  like  mechanics'  unions  received  their 
share  of  the  state  school  fund  for  keeping  a  common  school. 
The  Springfield  Mechanics'  Union,  "on  the  establishment  of 
their  common  school,  shall  receive  from  the  school  commis- 
sioner of  the  county  the  same  amount  of  money,  in  the  same 
proportion,  and  apply  the  same  to  such  tuition,  in  the  same 
manner  as  other  common  schools  are  kept  and  paid."-*  The 
school  established  by  this  act  immediately  was  opened  under 
the  name  of  the  Springfield  City  Schools. 

It  was  also  the  custom  for  private  academies,  unchar- 
tered, to  receive  state  aid.  An  academy  in  Peoria,  in  1840, 
says  this  about  its  funds:  "This  is  not  a  chartered  institu- 
tion, nor  aided  by  any  public  funds,  except  that  it  shares  the 
public  school  fund  together  with  the  common  schools  of  the 
town."'^ 

The  state  virtually  aided  academies  by  a  general  law  of 
1842,  which  exempted  from  taxation  ten  acres  of  land  owned 
by  any  literary  institution;  and  for  colleges  and  academies 
exempted  a  hundred  sixty  acres,  if  actually  used  as  its  loca- 
tion and  domain,  with  all  buildings,  libraries,  and  appa- 
ratus."* 

The  idea  of  taxing  the  people  of  the  community  for  sup- 
porting an  academy  is  found  in  some  of  the  charters:  "The 
trustees  of  the  town  of  Winchester  may  levy  and  collect  a  tax 
not  exceeding  one  per  centum  on  all  taxable  property  in  said 
town,  to  be  applied  to  purposes  of  education,  as  said  trustees 
shall  from  time  to  time  direct :  Provided,  That  before  any  tax 
can  be  levied  as  aforesaid,  and  on  application  of  twelve  citi- 
zens of  the  town,  the  trustees  shall  cause  an  election  to  be 
held,  where  each  inhabitant  residing  within  the  incorporate 
limits  of  said  town,  may  have  the  privilege  of  voting  for  or 
against  a  tax,  and  if  a  majority  of  two-thirds  of  the  votes 
given  at  said  election  shall  be  in  favor  of  a  tax,  then  and  in 
that  case  the  trustees  may  levy  a  tax  and  in  no  other."" 

»«  Session  Laws,  1841,  p.   290,  Sec.   6. 
"  Session  Laws,  1839-40,  p.  74.  Sec.  2. 
"Peoria  Directory,  1844,  p.  115. 
"State  Supt.  Report,  1883-4,  p.  116. 
"Session  Laws.  1841,  p.  290,  Sec.  7. 


20015'/' 


38 

The  original  proprietors  of  the  town  of  Payson  were  far- 
sighted  enough  to  make  provision  at  a  future  time  for  the 
establishment  of  an  academy  by  using  twenty  per  cent  of  the 
proceeds  from  the  sale  of  lots  in  that  town  for  that  purpose : 
*'The  original  proprietors  of  the  town  of  Payson,  in  their 
proposal  for  the  sale  of  town  lots,  stipulated  twenty  per  cent 
of  the  amount  of  sales  of  town  lots  should  be  appropriated 
toward  the  establishment  of  a  Seminary  of  Learning  from 
which  fund,  now  accrued,  amounts  to  $1,300."^^ 

Individuals,  themselves,  aided  secondary  education  by 
endowments.  The  founder  and  benefactor  of  Monticello  Semi- 
nary set  aside  $10,000  for  that  purpose,  as  early  as  1834. 
The  building  was  iDegun  in  1836  and  opened  for  pupils  in 
1838.'^ 

A  few  public-spirited  men  bequeathed  money  for  the 
erection  and  establishment  of  academies.  Silas  Hamilton  left 
$4,000  for  the  creation  of  the  Hamilton  Primary  School  to 
educate  the  children  of  his  friends  and  neighbors.^" 

Tuition  was  one  of  the  factors  in  the  support  of  educa- 
tion. The  Sangamo  Journal,  April  21,  1838,  stated  that 
'' academies  and  colleges  are  founded  by  private  enterprise, 
and  supported  by  individual  liberality  and  munificence. 
Those  who  seek  these  institutions  must  necessarily  pay  in 
proportion  to  the  benefit  received.'"^ 

Occasionally,  academies  were  public  joint-stock  com- 
panies, so  that  the  money  necessary  for  the  founding  of 
schools  was  raised  by  the  sale  of  stock,  worth  from  ten  to 
twenty-five  dollars  a  share,  allowing  the  share  holders  free 
tuition  for  every  share  held,  and  with  the  privilege  of  voting 
on  the  policies  of  the  institution:  "The  said  academy,  when 
erected  and  in  operation,  shall  at  all  times  be  open  for  use 
and  the  privilege  of  every  white  person,  within  the  United 
States,  who  may  wish  to  be  instructed  by  the  instructors  or 
instructresses,  employed  by  the  trustees  thereof;  Provided, 
Said  free  white  person  will  comply  with  the  laws,  and  pay 
the  sum  affixed  by  the  said  trustees,  for  the  instruction  of 
students  attending  the  same;    Provided    nevertheless,  that 


'»  Session  Laws,  1841,  Sec.  7. 
=•  State  Supt.  Report,  1867-8  ;  p.   267. 
»">  Session  Laws,  1839-40,  Preamble. 
«  Sangamo  Jr.,  April  21,  1838. 


39 

each  and  every  stockholder  in  said  institution  shall  be  en- 
titled to  the  admission  of  one  jn^pil  in  the  same  for  each  and 
every  share  he  or  she  may  legally  hold  therein.  On  payment 
of  ten  dollars  to  the  treasurer  of  the  institution  every  free 
white  person  shall  be  considered  a  stockholder."^^ 

The  stock  of  the  Eushville  High  School  Association 
"shall  consist  of  shares  of  twenty-five  dollars  each,  to  be 
subscribed  for  in  the  manner  that  the  commissioners  herein 
after  named,  or  the  trustees  when  elected  shall  direct,  and 
shall  be  deemed  personal  property,  and  shall  be  transferable 
on  the  books  of  said  corporation  in  such  manner  as  the  board 
of  trustees  may  prescribe;  the  capital  stock  shall  not  exceed 
ten  thousand  dollars,  and  its  funds,  rents  and  privileges  shall 
be  used  only  for  the  purposes  of  education  herein  declared.  "^^ 

Every  charter  placed  a  limitation  on  the  amount  of  prop- 
erty to  be  held.  This  varied  from  the  one  hundred  thousand 
acres  of  land  allowed  to  Vincennes  University,  to  twelve  acres 
of  land  allowed  the  Jacksonville  Female  Academy.  But  very 
few  cases  have  been  found  where  more  than  a  thousand  acres 
of  land  was  allowed  to  chartered  academies.  The  legislature 
that  granted  the  Jacksonville  charter  had  this  to  say  relative 
to  the  property  to  be  held  by  the  academy:  "The  lands  within 
the  bounds  of  this  State,  held  in  perpetuity  by  this  charter, 
shall  not  exceed  twelve  acres,  held  at  any  one  time;  and  if 
donations  in  land  shall  be  made  at  any  time  to  said  corpora- 
tion, the  same  may  be  received  and  held  in  trust  by  said  board 
of  trustees,  and  shall  be  sold  within  three  years  from  the 
date  of  such  donation  for  the  benefit  of  said  institution;  in 
failure  whereof,  the  land  so  given  shall  revert  to  the  donor 
or  grantor  of  the  same  and  the  said  board  of  trustees  shall  in 
no  case  lease  or  rent  out  any  land  so  held  in  trust  as  afore- 
said.'"* 

The  amount  allowed  to  Eushville  High  School  Associa- 
tion was  a  little  larger;  "The  lands,  tenements,  and  heredita- 
ments, to  be  held  in  perpetuity  by  virtue  of  this  act  by  said 
corporation,  shall  not  exceed  three  hundred  and  twenty 
acres.^' 


"  Session  Laws. 

2=1  Session  Laws,  1844-45,  p.  311. 

"Session  Laws.  1834-5. 

« Session  Laws,  1S44-45,  p.  311. 


40 

The  chartered  academies  were  quasi-public  institutions 
because,  (a)  a  group  in  the  community  undertook  to  educate 
its  youth;  (b)  the  trustees  were  frequently  elected  by  the 
public;  (c)  the  j)oor  children  of  the  Indians  were  educated 
gratis;  (d)  all  youth  were  to  be  educated  free  when  the  funds 
of  the  academy  were  sufficient;  (e)  religious  freedom  was 
recognized  as  a  public  necessity;  (f )  the  legislature  regarded 
the  charter  a  public  act. 

The  purposes  for  which  academies  were  established  were 
(a)  to  disseminate  useful  knowledge;  (b)  to  give  women  high 
intellectual  and  moral  culture;  (c)  to  fit  youth  for  the  various 
duties  of  life;  (d)  to  prepare  teachers  for  the  common 
schools;  (e)  to  promote  science  and  literature;  (f)  to  safe- 
guard and  develop  the  physical  body;  (g)  to  circulate  books 
among  the  people;  (h)  to  inaugurate  a  system  of  manual 
labor  with  literary  education;  (i)  to  educate  the  children  of 
the  "people". 

The  trustees,  varying  in  number  in  the  different  acad- 
emies, were  elected  or  appointed,  with  powers  that  were 
usually  conferred  on  bodies  corporate  and  politic,  though  no 
fixed  rule  was  adoptd  in  that  respect.  The  administrative 
organization  was  fixed  to  suit  the  will  of  the  individual  in- 
corporators, with  few  exceptions. 

Financially,  academies  were  benefited  by  the  sale  or  rent 
of  school  lands,  when  that  was  deemed  advisable;  were  occa- 
sionally aided  in  establishment  by  the  funds  of  the  township 
in  which  they  were  located;  were  usually  given  their  share 
of  the  school  fund  for  keeping  a  common  school;  were  prom- 
ised a  state  subsidy;  were  to  receive  local  taxes  if  the  people 
of  the  community  wished  to  vote  them ;  were  endowed  by  gifts 
directly,  or  received  money  by  wills;  were  supported  by  tui- 
tion, and  had  a  fund  created  by  the  sale  of  stock  divided  into 
a  stipulated  number  of  shares.  Religious  organizations  used 
one  or  several  of  the  means  above  suggested  in  the  support 
they  gave  academic  education.  The  next  chapter,  therefore, 
is  a  consideration  of  the  religious  influence  on  education. 


41 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Religious  Influence. 

In  spite  of  the  academic  legislation  provided  by  the 
state,  little  machinery  existed  for  the  administration,  organ- 
ization, and  supervision  of  education  outside  of  the  church. 
In  colonial  days,  a  close  relation  existed  between  the  church 
and  the  school,  and  that  intimacy  continued  to  about  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  was  but  natural  that 
the  minister  should  direct  and  supervise  instruction  because 
he  was  well  educated,  entirely  qualified,  and  had  sufficient 
leisure  time.  The  aim  of  education,  the  subject  matter,  and 
teacher  certification,  all,  had  a  religious  tone. 

The  grammar  school  had  grown  up  under  the  religious 
denominations  in  the  colonies.  But  there  came  a  time  of  re- 
ligious revival,  about  1740,  in  England  and  her  colonies, 
when  the  established  mode  of  worship  was  questioned.  New 
denominations  could  only  perpetuate  their  religious  beliefs 
by  establishing  schools.  Likew^ise,  there  was  a  revival  in 
education  so  that  new  institutions  were  necessary,  in  educa- 
tion as  well  as  in  religion,  to  meet  the  new  ideals,  one  expres- 
sion of  which  was  the  academy.  The  connection  of  the 
church  with  the  academy  was  somewhat  different  than  its  re- 
lation to  the  Latin  grammar  school.  No  longer  was  a  religi- 
ous test  required  of  the  teachers,  no  longer  was  religion  the 
primary  subject  of  study,  but  the  churches  still  kept  a  large 
part  of  the  control  and  organization  of  the  academy  in  their 
hands.  There  was  no  other  body  yet  developed  that  could 
assume  the  responsibility. 

The  Catholics,  the  Baptists,  the  Methodists,  the  Presby- 
terians, and  the  Congregationalists  sent  missionaries  to  Illi- 
nois who  established  schools  as  well  as  preached  the  gospel. 
One    of   the   chief   institutions    established   by   the   pioneer 


42 

preachers,  with  the  exception  of  the  Catholics/  was  the  acad- 
emy, because  the  missionaries  came  to  Illinois  at  the  time  of 
the  academy  period.  Home  organizations  sent  representa- 
tives to  the  new  West  to  establish  branches,  convert  the 
Indian  and  the  pioneer,  and  to  educate  the  children  of  the 
forest  and  of  the  newcomers.  How  conscientious  and  faith- 
ful those  talented  missionaries  were,  is  evidenced  by  the  in- 
dividual schools  that  they  established  and  maintained,  fre- 
quently at  their  own  expense.  They  paved  the  way  for  the 
later  tides  of  emigration,  the  latter  making  it  possible  to 
maintain  a  local  system  of  academic  education.  The  frontier 
was  not  free  from  jealousies  for  the  hospitable  southerner 
hated  the  shrewdness  of  the  Yankee.  Religious  disputes 
naturally  arose  between  the  former  and  the  latter,  traces  of 
which  are  found  in  the  struggle  for  and  maintenance  of  the 
academies.  Although  the  Yankee  left  his  mark  on  those  insti- 
tutions, he  forsook  them  for  the  common  school.  A  closer 
survey  of  the  religious  educational  influence,  therefore,  is 
relevant. 

The  French  Jesuits  exerted  the  earliest  religious  and 
educational  influence  in  the  territory  that  is  now  the  state 
of  Illinois.  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck  had  this  to  say  of  Kaskaskia 
under  French  rule :  * '  In  olden  time,  Kaskaskia  was  to  Illinois 
what  Paris  is  at  this  day  to  France.  Both  were,  at  their 
respective  days,  the  great  emporiums  of  fashion,  gayety,  and 
I  must  say,  happiness  also.  In  the  year  1721,  the  Jesuits 
erected  a  monastery  and  college  in  Kaskaskia,  and  a  few 
years  after  it  was  chartered  by  the  French  government."^ 

Kaskaskia,  in  1796,  though  mostly  French  in  population, 
but  under  English  control,  had  degenerated  to  such  an  extent 
that  Austin  Ville  said  the  Jesuit  college  in  that  city  was  then 
in  ruins,  although  the  city  and  the  college  were  very  flourish- 
ing under  the  French  government.^ 

However,  the  Catholics  maintained,  from  time  to  time,  in 
the  French  settlement  of  Kaskaskia,  a  convent  for  the  edu- 
cation of  young  ladies.    In  1828,  this  school  is  spoken  of  as 

*  The  Catholics  had  a  college  at  Kaskaskia  in  the  early  part  of  the  18th 
century,  but  it  fell  into  disuse  at  the  end  of  the  French  period.  In  the  early  part 
of  the  19th  century  a  similar  institution  was  revived  in  the  same  town,  but  that 
was  not  typical  of  Catholic  activity  in  other  parts  of  the  state  until,  about  the  close 
of  our  period. 

*  Powers,   History   of   Springfield,   p.   6,    quotes   Peck. 
»Doc.  Am.  Hist.  Rev.,  April,  1900,  p.  538. 


43 

being  at  the  zenith  of  its  influence  for  the  people  of  the  West, 
and  was  deservedly  very  popular. 

The  leaven  of  the  whole  educational  movement  in  the  be- 
ginnings of  Illinois  was  the  work  of  the  Protestant  preachers 
and  missionaries.  According  to  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck,  a  Baptist 
minister,  his  denomination  had  these  missionary  preachers  in 
the  state:  Josiah  Dodge,  1784;  James  Lemen,  1784;  David 
Badgley  and  Joseph  Chance,  who  organized  the  first  church 
in  1796;  John  Clark,  1797,  and  W.  Jones,  1806.  By  1807,  five 
Baptist  churches  had  formed  an  association. 

Governor  Reynolds  mentioned  these  Methodist  mission- 
ary ministers:  Joseph  Lillard,  1793;  Hosea  Riggs,  1796;  Ben- 
jamin Young,  1804;  T.  Harrison,  1804;  J.  Oglesby,  1805;  C. 
R.  Matheny,  1806;  Jesse  Walker,  1806;  Bishop  McKendree, 
1807;  Peter  Cartwright,  1824.  By  1815,  four  Methodist- 
Episcopal  circuits  had  been  established. 

As  was  stated  in  the  discussion  of  early  education  in 
Illinois,  James  Lemen,  a  Baptist  preacher,  opened  one  of  the 
first  schools.  Father  John  Clark  was  a  conspicuous  and 
efficient  character  in  the  pulpit  and  the  schools.  He  taught 
many  of  the  rising  generation  of  that  day  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  education.* 

Smith  and  Mills,  in  their  missionary  tour  of  the  West, 
showed  that  preachers  would  be  welcomed  to  keep  schools. 
'' Governor  Edwards  assured  us,  that  a  preacher  of  popular 
talents  would  receive  a  salary  of  $1,000  per  annum,  for 
preaching  a  part  of  the  time,  and  instructing  a  small  school. '  '^ 

The  constitution  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of 
the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  gave  one  of  its  objects  to  be  the 
promotion,  "by  all  suitable  means,  within  the  Valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  missionary  spirit  in  theological  seminaries, 
colleges,  academies,  and  the  community."® 

The  legislature  of  the  state,  in  1821,  passed  an  act  to 
encourage  learning  in  White  county,  making  the  township 
trustees  and  church  trustees  coordinate  bodies  in  conducting 
a  school  for  the  township:  "Whereas,  there  is  a  society  of 
Christians,  called  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  who  have 
erected  a  meeting  house  for  public  worship  on  the  sixteenth 

••Reynolds,  My  Own  Times,  p.   194. 

»Rep.  Miss.  Tour,  by  Mills  and  Smith,  p.  17. 

•  First  Annual  Rep.  Foreign  Miss.  Soc,  p.  4. 


44 

section  in  township  five  south,  of  range  eight  east,  of  the  third 
principal  meridian,  in  this  state,  and  whereas,  the  said  house 
may  serve  to  have  the  gospel  preached  therein,  and  likewise 
may  be  used  for  a  schoolhouse  for  the  township.   Therefore, 

* '  Sec.  I.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois, represented  in  the  General  Assembly,  that  two  or  more 
of  the  county  commissioneers  of  White  county  are  hereby 
authorized  and  required  to  lease  five  acres  of  land  of  said 
section  sixteen,  in  township  five  south,  range  eight  east,  in- 
cluding said  meeting  house  and  burial  ground,  to  the  trus- 
tees of  the  township  for  ninety-nine  years,  for  the  use  of  said 
society  of  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  and  for  the  use  of 
schools  of  said  township." 

* '  Sec.  2.  Be  it  further  enacted,  that  the  said  school  which 
may  be  taught  in  said  house  shall  be  under  the  direction  of 
the  trustees  of  the  township  and  said  society  of  Cumberland 
Presbyterians.  There  shall  never  be  given  any  preference  to 
one  sect  of  people  over  another  in  said  school,  but  at  all 
times,  the  said  society  of  Cumberland  Presbyterians  shall  be 
entitled  to  hold  divine  service  in  said  house  during  said 
lease.  "^ 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  influential  men  in  the  religious, 
social,  and  the  educational  life  of  the  people  of  early  Illinois, 
was  John  Mason  Peck.  He  was  born  at  South  Farms,  Conn., 
in  1787,  and  received  his  education  in  the  common  schools 
and  the  academy  of  his  town.  He  studied  science,  literature 
and  medicine  in  Philadelphia.  The  year  1818  found  him 
teaching  school  in  St.  Louis.  Settling  in  Illinois  soon  after, 
he  preached  and  taught  school.  January  1,  1827,  he  invited 
all  those  favorable  to  the  establishment  of  a  college  or  semi- 
nary to  meet  at  his  home,  in  Rock  Spring,  St.  Clair  county, 
which  was  situated  on  the  principal  stage  route  to  Vinconnes, 
seventeen  miles  east  of  St.  Louis. 

Peck  was  engaged  a  year  in  raising  funds  for  the  insti- 
tution to  be  established.  He  and  his  hired  men  cut  the  timber 
and  built  the  school.  Five  hundred  dollars  and  twenty-five 
acres  of  land  were  contributed  by  Peck  himself.  Nine  trus- 
tees were  appointed  and  one  hundred  shares  of  stock  at  ten 

'Session  Laws,  1821.  p.  153. 


45 

dollars  a  share  were  to  be  sold  to  support  the  two  depart- 
ments to  be  established.* 

Eock  Spring  Theological  and  High  School  was  the  name 
given  to  this  institution.  ''The  general  plan  of  study  is  ac- 
commodated to  the  circumstances  of  the  preachers  of  the 
gospel,  and  to  the  wants  of  the  country.  Ministers,  who 
have  families,  and  those  who  are  somewhat  advanced  in  life, 
may  attend  the  Institution  as  may  suit  their  convenience.  It 
is  established  on  liberal  principles,  though  under  the  par- 
ticular control  of  the  Baptist  denomination."" 

"The  second  department  is  to  be  a  scientific  and  literary 
institution  for  the  accommodation  of  any  class  of  students  of 
approved  character,  and  it  is  to  be  conducted  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  a  High  School.  A  professor  of  mathematics  and 
natural  philosophy,  who  shall  be  the  principal  of  the  High 
School  Department,  and  direct  the  studies  in  languages,"  is 
to  be  appointed.  ^'^ 

Joshua  Bradley,  holding  an  A.  B.  degree.  Brown  college, 
was  the  first  president,  and  John  Russell  was  principal  of  the 
high  school.  This  department  was  conducted  upon  the  plan 
of  an  academy  "with  modern  improvements  in  education;  and 
admitting  students  without  distinction  of  age  or  previous 
study.  "^^ 

The  first  annual  report  said  that  there  were  about  sixty 
scholars.  "An  unusually  large  proportion  of  the  scholars 
have  attended  to  writing,  arithmetic,  grammar,  and  geog- 
raphy. Five  young  gentlemen  have  mastered  the  difficulties 
of  algebra,  one  of  whom  is  now  studying  geometry.  Three 
students  are  pursuing  the  study  of  Latin.  "^^ 

Other  denominations  in  this  early  period  and,  in  fact, 
until  after  the  Civil  War,  conducted  religious-public  schools 
of  a  similar  nature.  Three  Methodist  ministers,  Wm.  Beau- 
champ,  Thomas  Hinde,  and  Wm.  McDowell,  founded  the  town 
of  Mt.  Carmel  in  1817  in  order  "to  build  a  city  on  liberal  and 
advantageous  principles  and  to  constitute  funds  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  seminaries  of  learning  and  for  religious  pur- 

« Quart.  Reg.  Am.  Ed.  Soc,  Nov.,   1830,  v.   4,  p.   354. 

•Quart.  Reg.  Am.  Ed.  Soc,  Nov.,  1830,  v.  4,  p.   354  and  111  Int.,  Mch.  24,  1827. 

"111.  Int..  Mch.  24,  1827. 

"  Peck,  Guide  for  Immigrants,  p.  248. 

"  Illinois  Intelligencer,  May  16,  1829. 


46 

poses. '"^  The  articles  of  association  for  the  city  of  Mt. 
Carmel  provided  for  the  division  of  the  town  site  into  a  num- 
ber of  lots,  one-fourth  of  which  were  called  ' '  public  donation 
lots  *  *  *appropriated  to  the  use  of  schools  and  religious 
purposes.'"*  The  money  realized  from  the  sale  of  the  public 
donation  lots  constituted  a  fund  from  which  one-third  was  to 
be  used  for  a  male  academy,  one-third  for  a  female  academy, 
and  the  remaining  one-third  for  religious  purposes.  Accord- 
ingly, a  school  was  opened  by  Beauchamp,  in  1819,  and  a 
charter  was  granted  by  the  legislature  in  1825.  Mt.  Carmel 
was  early  a  center  of  Methodist  influence  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  state.  Religious  conferences  were  held  in  the 
town,  out  of  which  originated  the  movement  which  resulted 
in  the  founding  of  McKendreean  College.* 

The  New  England  influence  was  accentuated  by  the  Con- 
gregational and  Presbyterian  preachers  and  missionaries 
from  that  district.  ''Mr.  Wylie  was  the  first  Presbyterian 
clergyman,  who  settled  permanently,  in  Illinois.  This  gentle- 
man was  at  the  head  of  the  seminary  of  learning  in  Randolph 
county,  as  well  as  attending  to  his  clerical  duties.'"^ 

Rev.  J.  M.  Ellis  went  to  Illinois  about  1820,  and  recog- 
nizing the  need  for  schools,  he  began  to  advocate  a  seminary. 
Money  was  raised  and  Ellis  appealed  to  an  eastern  mission- 
ary society  for  help.  This  appeal  fell  into  the  hands  of  a 
member  of  the  Yale  class  of  1828.  Being  interested  in  home 
missions,  this  graduate  interested  others  of  his  class  in  the 
formation  of  the  Illinois  Association  with  the  following 
pledge : 

"Believing  in  the  entire  alienation  of  the  heart  from 
God,  in  the  necessity  of  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  for 
its  renovation,  and  that  these  influences  are  not  to  be  expected 
without  the  use  of  means;  deeply  impressed  also  with  the 
destitute  condition  of  the  western  section  of  our  country,  and 
the  urgent  claims  of  its  inhabitants  upon  the  benevolence 
of  the  East,  and  in  view  of  the  fearful  crisis  which  is  evi- 
dently approaching,  and  which  we  believe  can  only  be  averted 
by  speedy  and  energetic  measures  on  the  part  of  the  friends 

"Boggess,  Settlement  of  Illinois,  p.  198,  in  Chi.  Hist.  Soc.  Col.,  v.  5. 

"  Ibid. 

*  The  early  name  of  McKendree  college. 

"Reynolds,  My  Own  Times,  p.  199. 


47 

of  religion  and  literaturo  in  the  older  state;  and  believing 
that  evangelical  religion  and  literature  must  go  hand  in  hand 
to  the  successful  accomplishment  of  this  desired  end,  we, 
the  undersigned,  express  our  readiness  to  go  to  the  state  of 
Illinois  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  seminary  of  learn- 
ing such  as  shall  be  best  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  that 
country,  a  part  of  us  to  ,engage  in  instruction  in  the  seminary, 
the  others,  to  occupy,  as  preachers,  important  stations  in 
the  surrounding  country:  provided  the  undertaking  be  de- 
cided practicable  and  the  location  approved:  and  provided 
also,  the  providence  of  God  permits  us  to  engage  in  it. 

Theron  Baldwin, 
John  F.  Brooks, 
Mason  Grosvenor, 
Elisha  Jenney, 
William  Kirby, 
J.   M.    Sturtevant, 
Asa  Turner, 
Theological  Department,  Yale  College,  February  21,  1829." '" 
One  member  of  this  group,  Lemuel  Foster,  was  sent  as  a 
missionary  to  Illinois.     He  drove  overland  with  his  bride 
and  was  ordained  at  Jacksonville,  in  1832.    He  preached  and 
his  wife  taught  school  in  a  log  cabin,     A  little  later,  they 
had  an  academy  with  two  school  rooms  on  the  first  floor  and 
a  church  above. 

The  founder  of  Monticello  Seminary  had  distinctly  a 
religious  conception  in  mind.  This  is  his  account:  "One 
morning,  while  lying  in  bed,  somewhat  indisposed,  my  wife 
came  into  the  room,  and  as  she  went  out,  made  some  remark. 
One  of  our  little  children  that  had  just  begun  to  lisp  a  few- 
words,  caught  the  remark,  and  while  playing  by  itself  on  the 
floor,  repeated  it  over  and  over  a  great  many  times.  This  led 
me  to  reflect  on  the  powerful  effect  of  a  mother's  example  on 
the  minds,  manners,  and  habits  of  her  off-spring,  and  no  less 
powerful  influence  that  females  have  over  society  at  large. 
Hence  the  great  necessity  of  their  being  qualified  for  those 
important  and  responsible  situations,  in  this  life,  which  God, 
in  His  infinite  wisdom  has  assigned  them  *  *  *  .  And  being 
desirous  to  act  the  part  of  a  faithful  steward  of  what  God 

"  sturtevant.  Autobiography,  p.   139. 


48 

had  placed  in  my  possession,  I  resolved  to  devote  so  much  of 
it  as  would  erect  a  building,  to  be  devoted  to  the  moral,  intel- 
lectual and  domestic  improvement  of  females,  particularly 
those  whose  means  were  limited."" 

A  religious  motive  impelled  the  founding  of  many  of 
the  academies  and  higher  institutions  of  learning  in  Illinois 
up  to  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  same  spirit 
which  sent  missionaries  and  preachers  from  the  older  states 
to  look  after  the  religious  welfare  of  the  people  on  the  frontier 
was  prominent  in  the  foresight  for  and  care  of  the  educa- 
tional institutions.  Thus  the  Yale  movement  was  not  only 
an  educational  conception  but  a  religious  undertaking  as  well. 
About  the  time,  though,  that  the  New  England  band  went 
to  Jacksonville,  the  abolitionists,  headed  by  William  Lloyd 
Garrison,  were  stirring  the  country  into  a  bitter  rage  of 
sectionalism.  Illinois  was  plunged  into  the  strife  of  sectional 
hatred  so  that  the  New  England  group — from  the  home 
states  which  had  produced  and  supported  Garrison — were 
looked  upon,  at  least,  with  suspicion.  They  sought  to  allay 
and  assuage  that  feeling  by  cooperating  with  the  older  de- 
nominations in  the  state  and  by  trying  to  find  southern  or 
western  professors  for  some  of  the  college  departments. 

Another  obstacle,  however,  was  encountered  when  the 
New  England  Presbyterian — Congregational  denominations 
first  tried  to  obtain  a  charter  for  Illinois  College  from  the 
legislature  which  was  still  southern.  The  law  makers  were 
afraid  of  the  sectarian  influence  which  might  result.  Judge 
Hall  put  the  case  thus :  ' '  In  several  instances,  acts  of  incor- 
poration for  seminaries  of  learning,  and  for  religious  asso- 
ciations, have  been  refused  by  the  legislature ;  and  one  insti- 
tution of  learning  has  been  incorporated,  with  an  expressed 
provision,  that  no  theological  department  shall  ever  be  at- 
tached to  it.  This  is  another  indication  of  public  sentiment 
in  this  state,  or  at  least  of  the  policy  of  the  legislature. 
There  seems  to  be  a  great  dread  among  law  givers,  of  re- 
ligious domination,  and  of  sectarian  influence.  Bills  for  acts 
to  incorporate  religious  societies,  for  the  single  purpose  of 
enabling  them  to  hold  a  few  acres  of  ground  for  their  meet- 
ing house  and  graveyard  have  been  more  than  once  intro- 

"  state  Supt.  Rept.,  1867-8,  p.  266. 


49 

duced  and  rejected.  No  college,  or  other  institution  of  learn- 
ing, in  which  any  one  religious  sect  is  known  to  have  a  pre- 
dominant influence,  has  ever  yet  received  a  charter  in  thi& 
state;  nor  will  any  such  institution  ever  be  incorporated 
there  unless  public  sentiment  shall  undergo  radical 
change."  ^^ 

Judge  Hall  then  argued  for  the  right  and  necessity  of 
religious  denominations  instructing  their  children:  "If 
religious  denominations  think  proper  to  educate  their  own 
children  in  their  own  tenets,  they  have  a  clear  right  to  do  so. 
It  is  enough  for  those  who  object  to  the  exertion  of  sectarian 
influence  upon  the  young  mind,  to  withhold  their  support 
from  institutions  which  they  disapprove.  The  granting  of 
a  charter  to  a  literary  institution,  confers  upon  it  no  moral 
power,  stamps  no  authority  upon  the  tenets  of  the  persons' 
who  control  it,  nor  affects  in  the  slightest  degree,  any  of  the 
rights  of  conscience.  It  merely  gives  to  such  an  institution 
facilities  for  the  transaction  of  its  financial  concerns,  and 
for  the  safe-keeping  of  funds  bestowed  upon  it  by  the  benevo- 
lent, for  public  and  beneficial  purposes." 

"In  a  country,  where  religious  opinions  are  perfectly 
unshackled,  and  men  may  believe  and  worship  as  they  please^ 
it  seems  to  be  unfair,  that  they  should  not  be  allowed  every 
facility  for  educating  their  children  according  to  the  dic- 
tates of  their  own  judgment;  and  we  doubt,  whether  it  is 
not  a  violation  of  the  spirit  at  least,  of  our  free  institutions, 
to  refuse  to  a  religious  society,  the  ordinary  facilities  of 
law,  for  the  protection  of  its  property,  the  management  of 
its  concerns,  and  the  dissemination  of  its  opinions.  The 
truth  is,  that  the  best  colleges  in  the  United  States  are 
sectarian;  each  of  them  is  under  the  direct  patronage  and 
influence  of  a  religious  sect.  No  college,  from  which  such 
influence  has  been  excluded,  by  expressed  prohibition,  has 
been  successful.  The  reason  of  this  seems  to  be  that  the 
business  of  education  falls  naturally  into  the  hands  of  the 
clergy.  It  comes  legitimately  Avithin  the  sphere  of  their 
duties.  They  are  fitted  for  it  by  the  nature  of  their  studies 
and  pursuits;  while  liberally  educated  men,  in  other  profes- 
sions, could  only  become  qualified  for  the  business  of  tuition 

"Hall,  Sketches  of  the  West,   1835,  v.   2,  p.  206. 


50 

by  the  sacrifice  of  their  other  avocations.  Those  avocations  are 
too  lucrative  and  honorable  to  be  abandoned  by  men  of 
talents,  for  the  humble  and  precarious  calling  of  teacher  or 
professor."^* 

The  new  democracy,  moreover,  feared  that  there  was  on 
foot  a  plan  to  unite  the  church  and  state  to  establish  an 
aristocratic  clergy,  and  to  destroy  the  liberties  of  the  people. 
Consequently,  when  Alton,  Illinois  and  McKendreean  Col- 
leges and  several  academies  petitioned  the  legislature  from 
1830  to  1835,  for  articles  of  inoorporation,  charters  were 
refused.  The  educational  convention  of  common  schools  at 
Vandalia,  in  1833,  with  numerous  petitions  by  friends  of  the 
colleges  and  academies,  caused  the  Committee  on  Petitions 
to  make  this  report  to  the  legislature:  "In  view  of  your 
committee,  three  questions  here  arise  upon  the  settlement 
of  which  the  whole  matter  will  turn. ' '  ^^ 

''1.  Are  institutions  of  this  character  really  needed  in 
this  state? 

2.  Is  it  important  to  their  success  that  the  trustees  who 
manage  them  should  become  bodies  corporate? 

3.  Can  corporate  powers  be  granted  with  safety  to  the 
public  interest?"  '° 

With  regard  to  the  first  question,  the  committee  found 
that  higher  institutions  were  necessary  to  furnish  teachers 
for  the  common  schools.  The  latter  are  unable  to  exist  with- 
out the  former.  Therefore,  it  should  be  the  policy  to  charter 
academic  institutions.  The  other  argument,  relative  to  the 
first  question,  stated  that  higher  institutions  were  necessary 
to  provide  scientific  men.  They  instanced  such  men  as  Sir 
Humphry  Davy  and  Eli  Whitney.  "The  engineer,  for  in- 
stance, upon  whom  we  must  depend,  to  survey,  and  at  every 
step  of  their  progress  direct  in  the  construction  of  our  canals 
and  railroads,  must  be  acquainted  with  algebra,  geometry, 
trigonometry,  etc.  *  *  *  .  ^e  must  have  institutions  which 
shall  be  the  depositories  of  science — liberally  endowed — and 
furnished  with  apparatus,  libraries,  and  able  and  learned 
men  as  instructors  *  *  *  who  shall  write  our  school  books 


"Hall,  Sketches  from  the  West,  1835,  v.  2,  p.   206. 
"Senate  and  House  Reports,  1834-5,  p.  337. 
*»  Senate  and  House  Reports,  1834-5,  p.  337. 


51 

and  histories,  and  become  our  authors  of  imperishable 
fame?"" 

The  argument  relative  to  question  two,  is  a  legal  dis- 
cussion which  does  not  concern  us. 

The  Committee  on  Petitions  adopted,  in  part,  the 
memorial  of  the  trustees  of  Illinois  College,  in  the  report 
to  the  legislature  relative  to  question,  three. 

**We  would  state  that  it  can  be  done  without  the  least 
hazard  to  the  interests  of  the  communit^^  One  of  the  most 
distinguished  jurists  and  civilians  in  our  country,  in  an  ar- 
gument before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  has 
stated  that  the  uniform  testimony  of  experience,  both  in  our 
own  and  other  countries,  is,  that  such  literary  corporations 
are,  in  an  eminent  degree,  safe,  and  highly  conducive  to  the 
public  good,  and  that,  as  a  uniform  fact,  they  have  not  been 
perverted  from  their  original  purpose  in  improper  ends.  And 
so  far  as  we  know,  no  fact  is  recorded  which  proves  the  danger 
of  any  such  perversion.  Not  only  do  facts  prove  the  safety 
of  such  literary  corporation,  but  the  nature  of  the  case  also 
shows  that  they  are  exposed  to  fewer  influences  which  may 
lead  to  perversion,  than  almost  any  other  class  of  corpo- 
rations. They  depend  almost  entirely  on  public  sentiment 
for  their  patronage  and  support,  and  therefore  cannot,  with 
impunity,  disregard  the  known  interests  and  wishes  of  the 
community.  On  the  other  hand,  they  are  under  the  influence 
of  every  possible  motive  to  regulate  all  their  measures  so  as 
to  bear  the  test  of  public  scrutiny,  and  to  correspond  with 
the  known  expression  of  public  will.""^ 

The  committee  went  on  to  say  that  these  reasons  were 
decisive;  that  literary  corporations  had  been  tried  in  other 
states  and  found  safe,  and  ''now,  why  should  that  which  is 
so  safe  in  these  states  be  dangerous  in  Illinois'?" 

"If,  then,  as  we  trust  has  been  abundantly  shown,  col- 
leges are  so  much  needed  in  our  State,  and  the  public  interest 
would  be  as  really  injured  by  neglecting  to  foster  them  as 
by  refusing  to  cherish  common  schools,  and  if  corporate 
powers  are  so  essential  to  their  permanent  prosperity  and 
usefulness,  and  these  powers  can  be  granted  with  entire 
safety  to  the  public  interest,  what  course  does  sound  policy 

"Senate  and  House  Reports,  1834-5,  p.  337. 


52 

dictate?  It  would  seem  to  be  as  clear  as  the  sun  in  the 
heavens.  Shall  we  hesitate  to  pursue  it  I  By  your  own  acts 
we  have  decided  that  it  is  inexpedient  to  create  these  institu- 
tions by  legislative  enactment,  and  endow  them  from  the 
public  resources.  But  are  we  prepared  to  say  that  none  shall 
exist  within  our  bounds,  when  they  are  the  pride  of  surromid- 
ing  states?  Shall  Illinois,  with  its  unrivaled  location,  beauty, 
fertility  and  natural  resources,  which  prepare  it  to  stand 
preeminent  in  the  confederacy,  expose  herself  to  the  denunci- 
ations of  all  her  sister  states,  by  refusing  to  foster  literary 
institution?"  ^^ 

The  educational  committee  expressed  its  attitude  toward 
the  petitioners  for  literary  institutions  by  these  questions-. 
"Are  not  these  different  boards  of  trustees  composed  of  our 
fellow  citizens,  and  are  they  not  worthy  citizens?  Have 
they  done  anything  to  forfeit  public  confidence?  Have  we 
evidence  that  any  other  associations  could  do  the  work  bet- 
ter? Shall  we  single  out  any  body  of  men,  so  long  as  they 
show  themselves  worthy  of  public  confidence,  and  are  engaged 
in  promoting  the  public  good,  and  deny  them  those  powers 
and  privileges  which  any  association  of  our  fellow  citizens 
might  justly  ask  at  our  hands?  Why  then,  we  repeat,  not 
grant  the  prayer  of  these  petitions?  Shall  they  meet  with  a 
cold  repulse?  Shall  their  generous  ardor  in  this  noble  work 
be  thus  suppressed?  Are  we  ready  to  say  to  any  body  of 
our  fellow  citizens  who  have  exhibited  such  a  spirit  of  enter- 
prise, and  labored  with  so  commendable  a  zeal,  and  met  with 
so  much  success,  w^e  will  not  sustain  you?"  '^ 

The  committee  said  that  the  petitioners  had  these  claims 
on  the  legislature  for  its  support.  "They  commenced  their 
operations  in  the  infancy  of  our  State,  when  the  means  of 
education  were  exceedingly  limited,  and  the  schools  of  every 
description  were  few  and  far  between.  They  do  not  simply 
prepare  to  educate  those  who  shall  hereafter  come  upon  the 
stage,  but  the  present  generation  also.  The  cry  now  is  from 
all  parts  of  the  State — educate  the  present  generation.  The 
petitioners  are  ready  to  vociferate  the  same  loud  and  long. 
This  is  the  very  thing  that  they  propose  to  aid  in  accomplish- 


«  Senate  and  House  Reports,  1834-5,  p.  337. 
"Senate  and  House  Reports,  1834-5,  p.  337. 


53 

ing.  They  come  to  us  and  point  to  the  present  state  of  edu- 
cation in  Illinois,  and  simply  ask  us  to  afford  them  such  facili- 
ties as  will  enable  them  to  prosecute  this  noble  work  with- 
out embarrassment.  Shall  we  then  withhold  from  them  that 
countenance  and  support  which  they  ask?  It  would  seem  that 
none  could  be  more  deserving  of  encouragement  than  the 
pioneers  in  the  cause  of  education.  In  the  opinion  of  your 
committee,  the  petitioners  are  richly  entitled  to  the  confidence 
of  their  fellow-citizens,  and  the  support  of  ourselves  as  a 
legislature. ' '  '* 

Thereu]:>on,  the  legislature  granted  charters  to  Alton 
College,  Illinois  College,  McKendreean  College,  Jonesbor- 
ough  College  and  the  Jacksonville  Female  Academy,  in  1835. 
The  charters  of  these  institutions  are  practically  all  the  same. 
The  model  upon  which  they  were  made  was  the  bill  for  a  char- 
ter for  Illinois  College,  which  bill  was  prepared  by  the  mis- 
sionaries and  their  associates.  The  group  was  made  up  of 
Edward  Beecher,  Julian  M.  Sturtevant,  Truman  M.  Post, 
Theron  Baldwin,  William  Kirby,  Samuel  Adams,  John 
Adams,  Elisha  Jenney,  Asa  Turner,  Jonathan  B.  Turner, 
John  F.  Brooks,  Samuel  D.  Lockwood  and  J.  M.  Ellis. 

These  men  were  the  founders  of  Illinois  College  and 
the  Female  Academy  at  Jacksonville,  in  1829  and  1830.  The 
legislature  was  petitioned  by  these  institutions  for  charters 
almost  immediately.  J.  M.  Sturtevant,  in  his  sketch  of 
Theron  Baldwin,  said  that  the  latter 's  arguments  for  charters 
for  these  institutions,  before  the  Senate  Educational  Com- 
mission, were  so  able  that  the  committee  adopted  them  as 
their  own  in  reporting  the  bill  favorably. 

The  assumption  that  the  Jacksonville  group  of  men  were 
familiar  with  the  charter  of  Yale  College  is  probably  true. 

1.  The  Yale  charter  of  1701,  amended  in  1723,  ''provides 
that  the  number  of  said  trustees  be  not  under  seven  nor  above 
Eleven."  -^    The  Jacksonville  charters  named  eleven  trustees. 

2.  The  objects  stated  in  the  two  sets  of  charters  are 
similar:  "Wherein  Youth  may  be  instructed  in  the  Arts 
and  Sciences  who  through  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God  may 
be    fitted   for   Publick   employment   in    Church    and     Civil 


**  Senate  and  House  Reports,  1834-5,  p,  337. 
"Yale  Uni.   Cat..   1913-14,   p.  €3. 


54 

State. "-^  The  Jacksonville  charters  stated  that  the  ''object 
of  said  corporations  shall  be  the  promotion  of  the  general 
interest  of  education,  and  to  qualify  youn.^  men  to  engage  in 
the  several  employments  and  professions  of  society,  and  to 
discharge  honoralDly  and  usefully  the  various  duties  of 
Ufe."^^ 

3.  The  corporate  powers  of  the  Yale  charter  of  1745,  said, 
"Thomas  Clap,  etc.,  shall  be  an  Incorporate  Society  or  Body 
Corporate  and  Politic  and  shall  hereafter  be  called  and 
known  by  the  name  of  the  President  and  Fellows  of  Yale 
College  in  New  Haven,  and  that  by  the  same  name  they  and 
their  Successors  shall  and  may  have  perpetual  Succession, 
and  shall  and  may  be  Persons  in  the  Law  capable  to  plead  and 
be  impleaded,  defend  and  be  fended,  and  answer  and  be 
answered  unto;  and  also  to  have,  take,  possess,  acquire, 
purchase,  or  otherwise  receive  Lands,  Tenements,  Heredita- 
ments, Goods,  Chattels,  or  other  Estates  *  *  *  to  grant,  de- 
mise, lease,  use,  manage  or  improve  for  the  Good  and  benefit 
of  the  said  college."" 

The  corporate  powers  of  Illinois  College  were:  "To 
have  perpetual  succession,  to  make  contracts,  to  sue,  and  be 
sued,  implead  and  be  impleaded,  to  grant  and  receive  by  its 
corporate  name,  and  to  do  all  the  other  acts  as  natural  per- 
sons may;  to  accept,  acquire,  purchase  or  sell  property,  real, 
personal  and  mixed,  in  all  lawful  ways ;  to  use,  employ,  man- 
age, and  dispose  of  all  such  property,  and  all  money  belong- 
ing to  said  corporation,  in  such  manner  as  shall  seem  to  the 
trustees  best  adapted  to  promote  the  objects  of  afore- 
mentioned." " 

4.  The  Yale  corporation  "shall  and  may  hereafter  have 
a  common  Seal  *  *  *  and  this  same  Seal  to  alter,  break,  and 
make  new  as  they  think  fit."'^  Illinois  College  was  "to 
have  a  common  seal,  and  to  alter  or  change  the  same. ' ' " 

5.  The  Yale  charter  gave  the  trustees  power  "to  make 
*  *  *  all  such  wholesome  and  reasonable  Laws,  Rules  and 
Ordinances,  not  repugnant  to  the  Laws  of  England,  nor  the 
Laws  of  this  Colony. ' '  -^  The  Jacksonville  charter  gave  the 
trustees  power  "to  make   such  by-laws   for  its   regulation 

^^Tale  Univ.  Cat..  1913-14,  p.   63. 

=«  Session  Laws,  1835-45;  Session  Laws  1835,  p.  177. 
"Session  Laws  1835-45;  Session  Laws  1835,  p.  177. 
"Tale  Uni.  Cat.,  1913-14,  p.  63. 


55 

as  are  not  inconsistent  with  the  constitution  and  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  or  this  State."  "' 

6.  The  President  in  Yale  College  ''shall  have  power  to 
give  and  confer  all  such  Honors,  Degrees  or  Licenses  as  are 
usually  given  in  Colleges  or  Universities,  upon  such  as  they 
shall  think  worthy  thereof."-'  The  trustees  of  institutions 
granting  degrees  had  the  power  ''to  confer  on  such  persons 
as  may  be  considered  worthy,  such  academical  or  honorary 
degrees  as  are  usually  conferred  by  similar  institutions."" 

7.  The  charter  of  1701  provided  that  the  trustees  could 
"have,  accept,  acquire,  purchase  or  otherwise  lawfully  enter 
any  Lands,  Tenements  and  Hereditaments  to  the  use  of  School, 
not  exceeding  the  value  of  five  hundred  Pounds  per  Ann."-^ 
All  literary  charters  granted  in  Illinois  after  1830,  limited  the 
amount  of  property  held.  "The  lands,  tenements,  heredita- 
ments, to  be  held  in  perpetuity,  in  virtue  of  this  act  *  *  * 
shall  not  exceed  six  hundred  and  forty  acres."  ^° 

8.  The  act  of  1792  made  lay  members  eligible  to  the 
board  of  trustees  of  Yale  College.  The  purpose  was  probably 
to  release,  somewhat,  the  religious  restrictions.  The  incor- 
porators of  many  colleges  and  academies  of  Illinois  tried  to 
have  a  theological  department  established,  but  for  a  long 
time,  that  clause  was  kept  out  of  the  charters. 

Finally,  the  general  tone  and  spirit,  as  well  as  many  of 
the  provisions,  in  the  Illinois  charters  were  similar  to  those 
of  Yale. 

Keligious  denominations,  consisting  of  Catholics,  Bap- 
tists, Methodists,  Presbyterians,  and  Congregationalists  had 
missionaries  in  Illinois  near  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  purpose  of  the  churches  in  sending  missionary 
preachers  to  the  West  was  educational  as  well  as  religious. 
Schools,  usually  academies,  because  they  were  the  representa- 
tive educational  institutions  of  the  period,  were  opened  in 
the  more  populated  localities,  largely  through  the  efforts  of 
pioneer  preachers.  The  culmination  of  the  movement  found 
expression  in  the  establishment  of  Alton,  McKendreean  and 
Jacksonville  Colleges,  for  the  purpose  of  educating  ministers, 
and  giving  others  a  liberal  education.  In  the  class  struggle 
between  the  Yankee  and  the  southerner,  it  was  urged  by  the 

»Tale  Unl.  Cat.,  1913-14,  p.  63. 

»"  Session  Laws,  1835-45;  Session  Laws  1835,  p.   177. 


56 

latter  that  the  former  wanted  to  unite  Church  and  State. 
The  legislature,  chiefly  southern,  in  1830,  refused  for  three 
years  to  grant  a  charter  to  Illinois  College.  By  the  combina- 
tion of  the  Congregationalists  and  Presbyterians,  represent- 
ing Illinois  College,  the  Baptists,  Alton,  and  the  Methodists, 
McKendreean,  charters  were  granted  to  these  institutions. 
After  that,  academies  were  established  by  charters  similar 
to  the  college  charters,  the  latter  resembling,  closely  somewhat 
the  Yale  charters  of  1701  and  1745. 

The  foregoing  chapters  have  dealt  with  external  con- 
siderations; the  following  discussion  is  an  examination  of 
some  of  the  internal  features  of  the  academy. 


57 


CHAPTER  V. 


SOME  INTERNAL  FEATURES. 

Entrance  Requirements. 

Standardization  in  administrative  organization,  entrance 
requirements,  tuition  charges,  subjects  of  study  and  methods 
of  teaching,  is  a  slow  process  even  in  relatively  developed 
communities.  Only  a  high  degree  of  social  action  selects  the 
ideal.  On  the  contrary,  frontier  life  provides  in  its  educa- 
tional system  those  features  which  suit  the  ideas,  tastes  or 
prejudices  of  extreme  individualism.  Consequently,  the  Illi- 
nois academies,  individually,  determined  their  own  rules  of 
procedure. 

Age  and  mental  attainment,  the  most  common  standards 
of  admission  in  our  present  educational  system,  were  used, 
but  by  no  means  generally,  as  entrance  requirements  to  the 
academies  in  Illinois.  Sex,  no  longer  an  exclusive  require- 
ment, as  had  been  in  the  colonial  Latin  grammar  school,  was 
only  an  occasional  condition  of  entrance.  The  academy, 
therefore,  was  the  first  institution  to  grant  higher  educa- 
tional privileges  to  women.  The  statement  that  only  a  limited 
number  of  pupils  could  be  accepted  was  probably  more  for 
the  purpose  of  advertising  an  exclusive  institution  than  as  a 
condition  for  admission.  Tuition  payment,  in  practice,  was 
probably  the  most  rigid  of  any  of  the  entrance  rules. 

In  general,  anyone  who  paid  the  tuition  charges,  was 
admitted  as  a  member  of  an  academy.  Some  statements 
made  by  academic  managers  in  newspapers  and  directories 
throw  light  on  the  entrance  requirements :  In  1830,  there  was 
a  female  department,  attached  to  the  Vandalia  high  school, 
under  a  young  lady,  ''who  teaches  girls  of  any  age,  and  boys 
under  six.'"  Moreover,  ''pupils  may  be  entered  at  any  time, 
and  will  be  charged  only  for  the  time  of  entering  to  the  end 

»Int.,  Oct.  23,  1830. 


58 

of  the  quarter  in  session."-  Again,  "children  of  every  age 
are  admitted,  from  those  in  the  alphabet,  and  upwards 
through  the  whole  circle  of  sciences,  so  far  as  they  are  taught 
in  any  academy."^  In  the  Hillsboro  Academy,  "the  admis- 
sion of  pupils  is  restricted  to  no  limitation  of  age  or  attain- 
ment."* The  Edgar  County  Academy  said,  "Pupils  of  both 
sexes  and  all  ages  are  admitted."^  In  the  School  for  Young 
Ladies,  in  Springfield,  the  unique  statement  was  made  that 
"none  will  be  received  under  six  years  of  age,  unless  they 
are  already  members  of  the  school  or  have  a  place  engaged 
in  it."''  The  Canton  Academy  accepted,  "youth  of  both  sexes, 
not  only  as  being  convenient,  but  because  it  is  believed  that 
under  proper  regulations,  they  will  exert  a  happy  influence, 
in  correcting  the  morals  and  refining  the  manners  of  each 
other.  "^  The  Academy  and  Common  School  of  Chicago  ad- 
mitted, in  evening  classes,  "young  men  who  are  obliged  to 
pursue  some  other  occupation  during  the  day."^  Finally, 
some  academies  had  room  for  only  a  limited  number  of  stu- 
dents. When  that  number  was  reached,  no  others  were  ad- 
mitted.^ 

From  these  excerpts,  it  should  be  noticed,  that  no  stand- 
ard of  scholarship  was  required  as  a  condition  of  entrance. 

Tuition. 

One  ideal  of  democracy  w^as  to  provide  education  in  the 
chartered  academies  which  should  be  free  to  all,  the  ones 
able  to  pay,  as  well  as  the  ones  unable  to  pay.  In  particular, 
the  charters  of  Madison,  Washington  and  Belleville  acad- 
emies carried  a  provision  for  the  free  education  of  youth 
when  the  funds  of  the  institutions  would  admit  that  practice. 
Unfortunately,  in  the  minds  of  the  managers,  the  funds  were 
never  sufficient.  Whether  the  academies  were  endowed  in 
money  or  in  land,  or  whether  they  received  their  share  of  the 
distributive  school  fund  for  maintaining  a  common  school, 
fees  were  always  charged.    Dues  were  placed  on  instruction, 

«  Sang.  Jr.,  June  5,  1845. 
"Peoria  Directory,  1844,  p.  102. 
«Sang.  Jr.,  May  13,  1842. 
^TPr.  Farm,  v.  8,  p.   71. 
"Sang.  Jr.,  Apr    4,  183.'5. 
'  Sang.  Jr.,  May  21,  1836. 
8Ec.  Jr.,  Ed.,  Nov.   15,  1851. 
•Sang.  Jr.,  Nov.  7,  1835. 


59 

sometimes  by  subjects,  sometimes  by  departments,  sometimes 
by  M'hat  we  may  call  a  curricula  basis,  and  sometimes  a  fixed 
amount  for  all  work  alike.  The  biggest  fee,  however,  was 
charged  for  living  accommodations.  If  academies  drew 
pupils  from  regions  other  than  the  immediate  locality,  room, 
board  and  washing  were  -necessary  because  transportation 
facilities  were  poor,  roads  were  bad,  streams  had  to  be  forded 
and  dangerous  forests  crossed.  Inaccessibility  combined  with 
charges  for  instruction  made  the  academy  a  select  institu- 
tion, in  practice,  rather  than  a  means  by  which  the  mass  of 
the  children  could  be  educated. 

Tuition  was  almost  as  varied  as  the  academies  were 
numerous.  However,  several  classifications  of  the  ways  in 
which  it  was  charged  follow: 

1.  Tuition  was  placed  on  subjects: 

Per  quarter. 

Grammar    $  4.00 

Advanced  English   5.00 

Higher  branches 6.00 

Piano 8.50 

Piano  and  singing 12.00 

Beading    2.50 

"Writing,   reading,   arithmetic 3.00 

Geometry    3.50 

Geography    3.50 

Higher  mathematics 4.00 

Latin,  French,  Greek 4.00 


10 


2.  Tuition  was  charged  by  departments: 

Per  quarter. 

Preparatory  department $  5.50 

Junior  department 8.50 

Second  Junior  department 10.50 

Senior  department 12.50 

Male  department  Higher  than 

Female  department for  females" 


"Sang.  Jr.,  May  29,  1840. 

Int.  Oct.  23,  1830. 
"Sang.  Jr.,  Sept.  25,  1835. 

Int.  Oct.  23,  1830. 


13 


14 


60 

3.  Tuition  was  charged  on  what  might  be  called  a  cur- 
riculum basis: 

Per  session 

Common  branches    $  2.50'^ 

Higher  branches  In  proportion'' 

Philosophy,  history,  arithmetic,  geography, 
grammar,  reading,  spelling 2.50 

Eeading,  English  grammar,  geography,  arith- 
metic, penmanship,  bookkeeping,  and  other 
ordinary  branches  of  English  education. . . .     6.00 

History,  moral  and  natural  philosophy,  astron- 
omy, rhetoric,  composition,  declamation, 
chemistry,  botany,  algebra,  and  the  higher 
branches  of  mathematics,  Latin,  Greek, 
French,  Belles  Lettres,  ornamental  needle- 
work, drawing,  painting,  vocal  and  instru- 
mental music  10.00'* 

Canton  Academy  had  a  similar  curriculum  tuition : 

Per  quarter. 

Orthography,  reading,  writing  $  2.50 

English  grammar,  mental  and  written  arith- 
metic, English  composition,  ancient  and 
modern  geography,  the  use  of  maps  and 
globes,  and  history 3.00 

Algebra,  geometry,  bookkeeping,  natural  phi- 
losophy, surveying,  chemistry,  intellectual 
and  moral  philosophy,  political  economy, 
astronomy,  natural  theology,  and  the  Latin 

and  Greek  classics 4.00'^ 

In  the  Springfield  city  schools,  tuition  was  as  follows: 

Per  quarter. 

Spelling,  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  geog- 
raphy, English  grammar,  and  composition.  .$  2.00 

History  of  the  United  States,  general  history, 

chemistry,  and  natural  philosophy 3.00 

Geometry,  algebra,  and  the  intellectual  and 
moral  sciences  4.00 

"  Sang.  Jr.,  Jan.  10,  1835. 
"  Peoria  Directory,  1844.  p.  102. 
"Sang.  Jr.,  Oct.  21,  1837. 
"Sang.  Jr..  May  21,  1836. 


61 

"The  school  fund  will  not  be  deducted  from  the  above 
prices.'"^ 

4.  Tuition  charges,  many  times,  were  stated  as  being  a 
certain  amount  for  any  or  all  subjects.  In  the  Springfield 
Academy,  it  was  $7.50  per  session,  payable  in  advance.^^  In 
the  Springfield  High  School,  the  terms  were  $200  per  annum, 
$50  payable  at  the  commencement  of  each  session.  Day 
scholars  paid  $55,  half  of  which  was  payable  in  advance." 
Illinois  College  Academy  made  a  single  tuition  charge  of 
$20.'" 

Often  tuition  charges  included  several  items  of  expense. 
Tremont  Academy  required  $95  per  year,  which  included 
tuition,  board  and  washing.^"  In  Monticello  Female  Academy, 
"the  expenses  will  be  for  the  Summer  Term  of  sixteen  weeks, 
for  board,  tuition,  and  incidental  expenses,  $44,  of  which  $25 
will  be  required  in  advance. '  '"^  St.  Mary 's,  in  Chicago,  charged 
for  board  and  tuition,  $150  per  annum,  and  $75  for  half 
boarders,  both  of  which  were  payable  half-yearly  in  ad- 
vance.^^ 

Frequently,  board  was  particularly  mentioned.  "Good 
accommodations  for  boarding  can  be  obtained  in  respectable 
families  at  reasonable  prices.""^  The  principal  can  accom- 
modate six  or  eight  pupils  with  board  and  lodging,  price  two 
dollars  a  week."'*  "Boarding  can  be  had  convenient  and 
cheap  in  the  neighborhood  for  males.  I  will  receive  at  my 
house,  the  females,  exclusively,  at  one  dollar  per  week,  if  paid 
in  advance  or  at  the  commencement  of  the  session,  or  one 
dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  at  the  close  of  the  session."-^ 
"Board  may  be  had  in  the  village,  at  from  $1.50  to  $2  per 
week."^''  The  Belleville  trustees  said,  "boarding  in  the  best 
houses  in  town  may  be  had  at  $50  per  annum.  In  the  country, 
very   convenient    to    town,    boarding   may    be    considerably 


"Sang.  Jr.,  June  5,  1845. 
"Sang.  Jr.,  Oct.  9,  1840. 
"Sang.  Jr..  Oct.  21,  1837. 
"111.  Col.  Cat.,  1851-2. 
2»Sang.  Jr.,  Apr.  17,  1840. 
="Sang.  Jr.,  Mch.  28,  1844. 
"Ec.  Jr.  Ed.,  Nov.  15,  1851. 
"Sang.  Jr.,  Oct.  21,  1837. 
"Peoria  Dir.,  1844,  p.  102. 
=^Sang.  Jr.,  Jan.  10,  1835. 
'•Sang.  Jr.,  May  21,  1836. 


62 

lower. '^"  In  Hillsboro,  '^good  board  may  be  had  in  respect- 
able families  from  $1.50  to  $2  per  week."'" 

Board  sometimes  carried  with  it  room  also.  In  the 
Monticello  Female  Academy,  "the  teacher  and  pupils  will 
board  in  his  family  (his  residence  is  within  a  few  rods  of  the 
building),  the  pupils  will  be  under  the  immediate  domestic 
care  of  Mrs.  Corey  (wife  of  the  principal  of  the  Preparatory 
Department),  and  receive  every  attention  requisite  to  the 
health,  morals  and  manners.  They  will  also  be  constantly 
under  the  eye  of  the  teacher,  not  only  in  the  school  room,  but 
in  the  boarding  house,  whose  influence  will  be  united  with 
that  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Corey  in  controlling  and  regulating 
their  habits.  "^^ 

Also,  "bedding,  except  a  bedstead  and  straw  mattress,  is 
to  be  furnished  by  the  young  ladies  themselves,  w^ho  will  be 
taught  and  required  to  take  care  of  their  room."-^  The  ad- 
vertisement of  the  Springfield  High  School  stated  that  "the 
pupils  from  abroad  will  be  received  in  the  family  of  the  prin- 
cipals, where  they  will  meet  with  kindness,  and  receive  those 
material  attentions  so  necessary  to  youth  in  the  absence  of 
parents.  Pupils  are  expected  to  furnish  their  own  beds  and 
bedding  (bedsteads  excepted)  and  to  have  their  clothing  dis- 
tinctly and  permanently  marked.'"" 

Tuition  charges  were  made  occasionally  for  curious 
things.  "Every  student  is  charged  for  stationery,  fuel, 
sweeping,  etc. — one  dollar  in  the  winter  and  fifty  cents  in  the 
summer  time.'"^  "Each  scholar  attending  the  school  may 
furnish — cords  of  wood  for  which  he  or  she  shall  be  credited . 
— dollars  per  cord,'"^ 

Illinois  College  catalogue,  1851,  made  the  following  state- 
ment for  the  annual  academic  expenses  exclusive  of  vacation : 

Tuition   $20.00  Wood    $  2.50 

Eoom  rent  10.00  Board    and    washing. 

Ordinary  repairs,     2.50  average    60.00 

Library  2.50  Board,  per  week,  50c  to  1.50 


"Spectator,  Feb.  1,  1825. 
28  Sang.  Jr.,  May  13,  1842. 
»Sang.  Jr.,  Mch.  28,  1844. 
»»  Sang.  Jr.,  Oct.  21,  1837. 
"Sang.  Jr.,  May  29.  1840. 
»2Pr.  Fr.,  1846,  p.  53. 


63 

The  Peoria  Academy  accepted  many  things  for  tuition. 
It  made  tliis  statement  relative  to  charges:  "Terms  of  tui- 
tion, for  twelve  weeks,  $4.  If  a  pupil  is  under  ten  years,  and 
pays  in  advance,  $3.  Almost  any  kind  of  property  is  re- 
ceived for  tuition  at  a  reasonable  price,  provided  arrange- 
ments be  made  at  the  commencement  of  the  quarter,  and  pay- 
ment be  made  at  the  time  and  in  the  manner  proposed.  But 
if  no  arrangements  be  made,  or  if  payment  be  delayed  till 
after  the  expiration  of  the  quarter,  cash  will  be  expected.  A 
careful  account  is  kept  of  all  school  funds  received,  and 
the  same  is  accredited  to  the  parents  or  guardian  of  the 
children. ' '  ^^ 

Sometimes  minute  directions  .were  given  for  the  stu- 
dent's welfare.  "Students  coming  from  a  distance,  should 
have  guardians  appointed  either  in  this  city,  or  in  Ne^v  York, 
Detroit,  St.  Louis,  or  Galena,  who  will  be  responsible  for  the 
regular  payment  of  bills  when  due.  Board  and  tuition  per 
annum.  $150,  payable  half-yearly  in  advance.  Washing, 
mending,    and    attendance    in    sickness,    are    extra   charges. 

Washing,  per  annum,  $18.    Mending, Doctor's  fees,  $3. 

Medicine  will  be  charged  at  druggists'  prices." 

"German,  Spanish  and  Italian  languages,  each  $15  per 
annum.  Books,  stationery,  etc.,  will  be  furnished  at  the  cur- 
rent prices,  or  may  be  procured  by  parents  or  guardians. 
Each  student  must  be  provided  with  two  summer  and  two 
winter  suits.  He  should  also  have,  at  least,  six  shirts,  six 
pairs  of  stockings,  six  towels,  six  pocket  handkerchiefs,  three 
pairs  of  shoes  or  boots,  a  hat,  a  cloak  or  overcoat,  a  silver 
spoon,  and  a  silver  drinking  cup — all  marked  with  his  name. ' ' 

"No  advance  will  be  made  by  the  institution  for  articles 
of  clothing  except  the  amount  expected  to  be  thus  expended 
is  previously  deposited  with  the  treasurer.  Pocket  money 
should  also  be  deposited  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer  to  be 
given  to  the  students  as  prudence  may  suggest."^* 

The  School  Year. 

There  was  no  fixed  school  year,  as  we  now  know  it,  from 
September  to  June.  School  started  when,  and  lasted  as  long 
as  the  individual  directors  saw  fit.    "There  are  two  sessions 

33  Peoria  Dir.,  1844,  p.  102. 
"111.  Reg.,  1847,  p.  20. 


64 

in  a  year,  of  twenty-four  weeks  each:  the  one  to  commence 
the  first  Monday  in  January,  the  other  the  first  Monday  in 
July.  The  schools  are  kept  six  hours  or  more  each  day  for 
five  days  a  week.'"^  In  Canton  Academy,  ''the  first  term 
will  commence  on  the  third  Monday  of  April. '  '^^  An  English 
school  in  Springfield  began  its  first  quarter  March  13th." 
Peoria  Institute  had  "four  terms,  of  eleven  weeks  each,  with 
a  six  weeks'  vacation.  The  next  term  commenced  the  first 
Monday  in  May,  1851.'"*  The  Young  Ladies  School  at 
Springfield  began  "the  first  term  of  the  second  year  *  *  * 
April  13th.  "^^  The  Springfield  Academy  had  sessions  of 
twenty  weeks.  The  first  session  "will  commence  the  15th  of 
November,  instant."" 

Subjects  of  Study. 
Previous  to  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
Latin,  Greek  and  Arithmetic  were  the  only  subjects  required 
for  admission  to  college.  Geography  was  added  in  1807,  by 
some  of  the  eastern  colleges,  English  grammar  in  1819,  alge- 
bra in  1820,  geometry  in  1844,  and  ancient  history  in  1847.*^ 
The  Latin  grammar  schools  had  served  distinctly  as  college 
preparatory  institutions,  while  the  academies  continued  to 
enrich  their  subjects  of  study  by  adding  material  from  the 
college  field  or  by  taking  subjects  outside  of  it.  English,  his- 
tory, science,  and  modern  languages  for  the  first  time  became 
significant.  English  composition  and  declamation,  not  unlike 
the  present  high  school  aim  in  these  subjects,  emphasized  the 
development  of  correct  usage  in  speech  and  writing,  as  well 
as  the  enjoyment  of  the  masterpieces  of  the  language.  His- 
tory received  an  ever-increasing  emphasis  because  of  the 
desire  to  praise  and  perpetuate  free  institutions.  Physical 
geography,  physics,  chemistry,  botany  and  astronomy  were 
becoming  popular  for  the  first  time,  iDecause  of  their  specu- 
lative rather  than  their  utilitarian  value.  The  useful  sub- 
jects were  continually  mentioned  and  taught.  The  academy, 
therefore,  while  serving  the  college,  was  an  institution  with 
other  objects  in  view. 

»5  Peoria  Dir.,  1844,  p.  102. 

88  Sang.  Jr.,  May  21,  1836. 

3' Sang.  Jr.,  Mch.  25,  1837. 

8«  Peoria  Dir.,  1850,  p.  155. 

=»  Sang.  Jr.,  April  4,  1835. 

■""Sang.  Jr.,  Nov.   7,  1835. 

"  Brown,  Making  of  Our  Middle  Schools,  p.  231. 


65 

The  academies  and  seminaries  offered  at  least  five  dis- 
tinct curricula.  But  some  academies  emphasized  one  curri- 
culum, perhaps,  more  than  another. 

1.  In  the  preparatory  department  of  Monticello  Acad- 
emy, *'it  is  designed  that  this  Department  shall  be  equal  in 
every  respect  to  the  best  female  academies  in  the  country. 
With  the  facilities  which  the  seminary  can  furnish  in  obtain- 
ing teachers  of  known  qualifications  *  *  *  it  is  believed 
that  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  carry  out  the  design.  Those  who 
intend  to  pursue  the  higher  branches  in  the  seminary,  will 
find  it  greatly  to  their  advantage  to  attend  this  school,  as 
books,  course  of  study,  and  mode  of  teaching  will  be  specially 
adapted  to  preparing  them  to  enter  favorably  on  the  semi- 
nary course  *  *  *  The  trustees  have  erected  a  commodi- 
ous building  on  the  seminary  grounds,  in  which  they  intend 
to  open  a  Preparatory  school,  for  the  benefit  of  Misses,  under 
14  years  of  age,  and  those  who  are  not  otherwise  qualified  to 
enter  the  seminary.  "*- 

Farmington  Academy  stated  that  it  had  Latin  and  Greek, 
with  other  courses,  as  were  necessary  'Ho  enter  the  higher 
classes  in  the  colleges  of  the  state.""  Illinois  College  Acad- 
emy outlined  in  its  early  catalogues  courses  which  were  in- 
tended for  college  entrance.  The  college  authorities  consoled 
the  public  with  the  statement  that,  if  the  pupils  did  not  go  to 
college,  they  were  prepared  an>^vay  for  life." 

2,  Very  early,  it  was  recognized  that  one  function  of  edu- 
cation was  to  prepare  men  for  the  ministry.  The  theological 
department  of  Rock  Spring  Seminary  was  founded  on  that 
assumption.  ''The  general  plan  of  study  is  accommodated 
to  the  circumstances  of  the  preacher  of  the  gospel  *  *  *^ 
Ministers,  who  have  families,  and  those  who  are  somewhat 
advanced  in  life,  may  attend  the  institution,  as  may  suit  their 
convenience  *  *  *.  As  soon  as  circumstances  will  allow, 
a  regular  classical  and  theological  education  will  be  pur- 
sued."*^ Even  some  of  the  academies,  such  as  the  Cherry 
Grove  Academy,  had  a  provision  in  the  charter  which  stated 
that  one  object  was  to  afford  facilities  for  the  education  of 


^2Sang.  Jr.,  Mch.  28,  1844. 
«Sang.  Jr.,  May  1,  1839. 
"111.  Col.  Cat.,  1849. 
«Am.  Ed.  Soc,  Nov.  1830. 


66 

candidates  for  the  ministry  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
church/^ 

3.  The  academy  was  regarded  as  the  training  school  of 
the  common  school  teacher.  The  Springfield  High  School  had 
''a  department  attached  for  the  instruction  of  teachers."" 
The  Chicago  Female  Seminary  said,  "A  teachers'  depart- 
ment is  connected  with  the  Seminary."*^  Hillsboro  Academy 
advertised  that  ''special  attention  was  paid  to  those  wishing 
to  qualify  themselves  to  become  teachers  of  the  common 
schools  of  the  state."*''  Another  institution  pointed  out  that 
"one  feature  of  the  school  is  worthy  of  notice.  Particular 
attention  is  given  to  that  kind  of  instruction  calculated  to 
prepare  the  student  for  the  practical  business  of  teaching."  ^^ 

4.  Nothing  is  specifically  stated  in  the  charters,  consti- 
tutions, or  advertisements  of  the  academies  that  they  pre- 
pared men  for  law  and  medicine,  as  well  as  for  teaching  or 
college,  but  often,  the  object  of  the  institution  Avas  such  that 
it  intended  to  train  leaders  for  the  state  and  society.  Among 
the  professions  of  that  day,  the  ministry  was  the  only  one 
that  could  most  justly  claim  the  name.  But  the  lawyer  and 
the  doctor  often  studied  the  languages  and  social  sciences  in 
the  academies  before  "reading"  law  or  medicine. 

5.  Although  a  great  deal  was  said  about  the  practical 
pursuits  of  society,  democracy  had  not  yet  been  worked  out. 
It  was  only  in  the  process  of  formation.  The  academies  were 
essentially  themselves  "class"  schools,  and  were  denomi- 
nated, many  times  "select"  institutions.  Following  through 
the  advertisements  in  the  newspapers,  one  can  read  between 
the  lines  that  an  appeal  was  being  made  to  the  cultured. 
From  that  class,  usually,  the  academy  received  its  support  in 
donations  and  tuition.  Hence,  those  subjects  were  taught  for 
which  there  was  a  demand.  Some  pupils  were  incapable  and 
unable  to  travel  the  rocky  road  of  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin, 
mathematics  and  philosophy.  The  object  of  this  institution 
was  to  give  young  ladies  a  practical  education  *  *  *  and 
to  ' '  cultivate  the  manners  and  form  correct  habits. "  ^^    In  the 


•"' Sess.  Laws.  1844-45. 
"Sang.  Jr.,  Oct.  21,  1837. 
«Chi.  Dir.,  1843,  p.   13. 
<»Sang.  Jr.,  May  13.  1842. 
""Ec.  Jr.  Ed..  Nov.  15,  1851. 
"Chi.  Dir.,  1843,  p.  13. 


67 

New  Girls  School,  piano,  guitar,  ornamental  needlework, 
English,  French  and  Spanish  were  the  subjects  of  study. 
Another  advertised  drawing,  painting,  vocal  music,  instru- 
mental music,  piano,  guitar  and  organ,  as  subjects  of  study." 
At  this  point,  a  classification  of  the  subjects  taught  in 
the  academies  will  be  made.  Again,  it  is  necessary  to  state 
that  no  academy  taught  all  the  subjects  in  the  list,  but  that 
most  of  them  taught  the  languages  and  the  common  branches. 

1.  Common  branches:  The  Alphabet,  Reading,  Orthog- 
raphy, Penmanship,  English  Grammar,  Composition,  Decla- 
mation, Arithmetic,  Bookkeeping,  and  Geography. 

2.  Languages:  (a)  Latin — Grammar,  Caesar,  Sallust, 
Cicero,  Virgil,  Horace  and  Tacitus,  (b)  Grammar — fables, 
exercises.  New  Testament,  and  classics,  (c)  Hebrew — gram- 
mar, exercises  and  Old  Testament,  (d)  French — grammar, 
fables,  and  classics,  (e)  Spanish — grammar,  classics,  (f) 
Italian  is  mentioned  once.     It  may  have  been  Latin. 

3.  Sciences:  Geography — ancient  and  modern,  physical 
and  celestial;  Chemistry,  Astronomy,  Natural  Philosophy, 
Botany,  Mineralogy,  Geology,  Physiology,  Hygiene,  Medicine 
and  Natural  Science. 

4.  Mathematics:  Arithmetic — higher,  written  and  men- 
tal ;  Algebra,  Trigonometry — plane  and  spherical ;  Geometry, 
Mensuration,  Surveying,  and  Navigation. 

5.  Philosophy :  Ethics,  Logic  and  Intellectual  Philosophy. 

6.  Social  Sciences:  History — English,  United  States, 
Greek,  Rome,  French,  General;  Mythology  and  Economics. 

7.  Religion:  Pentateuch,  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  Evi- 
dences of  Christianity,  Natural  Theology,  and  Christian  The- 
ology. 

8.  English:  Grammar,  Rhetoric,  Belles  Lettres,  Elocu- 
tion, English  Literature,  Poetry  and  Criticism. 

9.  Accomplishments:  Drawing,  Painting,  Mezzotinto 
Painting,  Vocal  and  Instrumental  Music,  Piano,  Guitar, 
Organ  and  Ornamental  Needlework. 

10.  Manual  Labor. 

To  make  the  above  classification  applicable,  the  program 
of  studies  of  the  Springfield  High  School  and  the  Springfield 

»='Sang.  Jr.,  Oct.  20.  1838. 
State  Supt.  Report,  1867-8,  p.  270. 


68 

Academy  are  next  quoted :    * '  The  Departments  of  study  will 
be  six: 

First — The  English,  including  Orthography,  Reading, 
Penmanship,  Arithmetic,  Bookkeeping, , Geography,  History, 
English  Grammar,  Composition  and  Elocution. 

Second — The  Latin  and  Greek  Languages. 

Third — Mathematics,  including  Algebra,  Geometry, 
Plane  and  Spherical  Trigonometry,  Mensuration,  Surveying 
and  Navigation. 

Fourth — The  French  and  Spanish  Languages. 

Fifth — Natural  Science,  including  Natural  Philosophy, 
Astronomy,  Chemistry,  Botany,  Mineralogy  and  Geology. 

Sixth — Moral  and  Intellectual  Philosophy,  Rhetoric  and 
Criticism.^^ 

The  Springfield  Academy  advertised  this  course  of  study : 

English — Reading,  Orthography,  Penmanship,  Grannnar, 
Murray's  Composition,  Declamation,  Olney's  Ancient  Geog- 
raphy, Woodbridges'  and  Willards'  Geography,  History, 
Rhetoric,  Astronomy,  Natural  Philosophy,  Chemistry  and 
Bookkeeping. 

Classical — Latin  Grammar — Liber  Primmer,  Jacob's 
Latin  Reader,  Caesar,  Sallust,  Cicero,  Virgil,  Horace,  Taci- 
tus. Greek  Grammar,  Greek  Exercises,  Greek  Reader  and 
the  New  Testament. 

Mathematical — Arithmetic,  Algebra,  Plane  Trigonome- 
try, Mensuration,  Surveying,  and  Navigation. 

French — Grammar,  Fables,  Telemaque,  L 'Historic  de 
Charles  XII. 

''The  course  of  study  has  been  selected  with  particular 
reference  to  the  formation  of  practical  as  well  as  theoretical 
scholars,  and  proceeds  on  the  settled  conviction  that  thorough 
scholarship  will  be  the  result.  And  in  the  prosecution  of  it 
the  pupils  will  be  required  by  regular  recitations  and  fre- 
quent examinations  to  develop  a  critical  and  particular 
knowledge  of  the  several  studies  they  may  pursue ;  and  so  far 
as  may  be  show  their  practical  utility."^* 

The  languages  held  the  center  of  the  circle  of  studies  in 
all  of  the  instruction  in  the  academies  before  1830,  and  much 
of  it  after  that  time.    Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  a  knowledge 

"Sang.  Jr..  Oct.  21,  1837. 
»<Sang.   Jr.,  Nov.   7,    1835, 


69 

of  which  was  the  mark  of  culture,  persisted  in  American  edu- 
cation for  a  long  time  and  came  from  the  old  Latin  Grammar 
School ;  but  the  academy  brought  into  existence,  as  fringes  at 
first,  subjects  of  study  that  were  practical  at  the  time.  A 
great  amount  of  space  and  time  was  spent  in  advertising  the 
utilitarian  program  of  studies  by  the  proprietors  of  the 
academies.  But  the  owners,  many  times,  preachers,  had  re- 
ceived the  Latin  Grammar  type  of  education.  It  was  but 
natural  for  them  to  project  the  ancient  languages  as  the  core 
of  academic  subject  matter. 

More  than  Latin  was  needed  in  a  new  country.  An  ob- 
jection to  languages,  written  in  1831,  showed  the  trend  away 
from  the  domination  and  influences  of  the  Latin  Grammar 
School.  ''The  study  of  languages,  when  it  is  made  the  com- 
mencement or  even  the  prominent  part  of  a  course  of  educa- 
tion, exercises  no  faculty  but  that  of  memory.  If  we  are  told 
that  the  books  that  are  used  in  teaching  the  dead  languages 
are  full  of  wisdom  and  poetry,  full  of  original  thought,  and 
rich  conception,  I  answer  that  these  are  valueless,  and  vapid, 
and  pernicious,  to  the  mind  that  cannot  estimate  their  real 
worth.  The  ancient  classics  are  full  of  illustrations  drawn 
from  the  great  volume  of  nature.  Those  words  are  all  con- 
fined, to  the  highest  and  most  imaginative  department  of 
human  thought — to  history,  poetry,  eloquence  and  philosophy 
— subjects  requiring  the  most  abstract  reflection,  the  most 
mature  judgment,  the  most  cultivated  taste ;  and  it  is  just  as 
ridiculous  to  carry  the  mind  of  a  child  by  a  sudden  transition 
from  the  works  of  Peter  Parley  to  those  of  Virgil,  Demos- 
thenes, and  Homer,  as  it  would  be  to  elevate  the  same  child 
by  a  single  step  from  the  nursery  to  the  senate. '  '^^ 

The  same  writer  then  gave  several  reasons  why  science 
should  be  introduced  as  a  subject  of  study.  First,  science 
has  been  and  is  free  from  local,  religious,  and  political  squab- 
bles. Second,  science  teaches  individuals  to  deliberate  rather 
than  memorize.  Third,  science  has  an  inestimable  social 
value.  Fourth,  language  made  the  schools  venerate  the  past. 
Language  consists  of  written  records,  books  are  necessary, 
strenuous  effort  is  demanded,  but  science  can  be  seen  on 
every  hand.    It  affords  pleasure  and  interest  and  disciplines 

"Hall,  111.,  Mont.  Mag.,  1831,  p.  316. 


70 

the  mind.  Fifth,  language  gives  words  without  any  meaning 
which  is  intellectual  dyspepsia,  but  science  furnishes  the  mind 
with  real  ideas.  Sixth,  through  science  alone,  can  the  proper 
development  of  the  country  take  place.  Witness  the  silly 
arguments  against  the  Illinois-Michigan  Canal,  which  were, 
that  the  water  from  the  lake  would  wash  all  the  state  away 
were  an  outlet  once  made. 

In  the  words  of  Judge  Hall,  the  necessity  for  teaching 
natural  sciences  was  that  ''these  efforts  ought  not  be  limited 
to  knowledge  of  any  one  kind.  All  that  can  aid  man,  in  gain- 
ing the  highest  point  of  mental  elevation,  is  desirable.  In  a 
republican  country,  whose  institutions  are  continually  tend- 
ing to  democracy;  where  every  change  and  revolution  tends 
to  obliterate  unnecessary  distinctions,  to  distribute  power 
among  the  great  mass  of  the  community,  and  to  mingle  the 
elements  of  society  together,  it  is  especially  necessary  that 
the  views  of  all  our  citizens  should  be  enlarged  and  well  bal- 
anced. But  particularly  ought  those  departments  of  science 
to  be  cultivated,  which  are  best  adapted  for  general  diffusion, 
which  correspond  with  the  genius  of  our  free  institutions, 
and  are  calculated  to  develop  the  resources  and  increase  the 
strength  of  the  country.  "^^ 

Of  the  sciences  to  be  taught,  ''the  natural  sciences,  or 
those  derived  from  accurate  examination  of  the  laws  and 
properties  of  the  material  world,  hold  a  conspicuous  place, 
and  it  is  the  object  of  this  article  to  recommend  a  more  gen- 
eral cultivation  of  this  department  of  knowledge.""  Astron- 
omy, botany,  chemistry,  mineralogy  and  geology  were  recom- 
mended and  defined  as  subjects  that  should  have  a  place  in 
academic  instruction. 

These  subjects  had  not  been  introduced  because  there  had 
been  no  demand  for  science.  The  leaders  of  education  should 
know  what  science  had  revealed.  "Commencing  at  the  time 
when  the  frail  bark  crept  timidly  along  the  shore,  and  all  the 
maritime  enterprises  were  confined  to  the  margin  of  the  sea, 
he  arrives  at  the  period  when  the  invention  of  the  mariner's 
compass  enabled  the  bold  navigator  to  venture  fearlessly 
upon  the  broad  ocean,  and  visit  distant  lands,  until  then  un- 
known to  the  civilized  world.    He  sees  the  rude  bark  swelling 

"Hall,  111.,  Mont.  Mag:.,  1831,  p.  316. 
"Hall,  111.  Mont.  Mag.,  1831,  p.   316. 


71 

into  the  majestic  ship,  armed  with  the  powerful  engines  of 
war,  manned  with  hundreds  of  human  beings,  freighted  with 
rich  products  of  foreig-n  climates.  He  beholds  here,  how  the 
most  simple  contrivances,  resulting  from  an  accurate  study 
of  nature,  and  an  ingenious  combination  of  mechanic  powers, 
have  affected  the  intercourse  of  the  world,  advanced  the 
progress  of  civilization,  increased  the  comforts,  and  stimu- 
lated the  industr}^  of  life.  He  has  also  carried  his  investiga- 
tions below  the  surface  of  the  deep,  and  examined  the  struc- 
ture and  modes  of  existence  of  myriads  of  animals  who  live 
secluded  from  the  human  eye.  He  has  traced  the  mighty 
Leviathan  to  the  profound  caverns  of  the  deep,  and  has 
watched  the  changing  colours  of  the  expiring  dolphin;  and 
if  he  has  not  seen  the  lovely  Mermaid  singing  on  the  rock,  or 
the  car  of  Neptune  rolling  among  the  billows,  he  has  discov- 
ered forms  as  beautiful,  and  combinations  as  wonderful  in 
fact  as  those  that  are  imagined  in  fable.  He  has  inspected 
the  curious  shell,  the  rich  coral,  the  priceless  pearl;  by  the 
aid  of  science  he  has  discovered  beneath  the  waters  a  world 
as  splendid  and  as  beautiful  as  the  earth  itself.  "^^ 

''And  lastly,  the  sciences  are  important  from  their  direct 
influence  upon  the  practical  duties  of  life.  In  all  discussions 
of  a  system  of  public  instruction,  it  is  to  be  recollected  that 
we  are  a  republican  people,  that  we  are  the  sovereign  rulers 
of  a  mighty  empire,  that  our  children  are  the  heirs  apparent 
of  the  supreme  political  power,  and  that  the  lovely  forms  by 
which  we  are  surrounded,  are  the  mothers,  the  sisters  and  the 
daughters  of  patriots,  and  republican  rulers.  There  is  no 
useful  art  which  does  not  depend  for  its  success  upon  the 
principles  of  these  sciences.  Every  culinary  process  involves 
the  chemical  operation,  every  mechanic  art  is  founded  upon 
the  laws  of  natural  philosophy — even  agriculture,  the  great 
business  which  sustains  the  majority  of  our  people,  the  most 
primitive  and  simple  of  all  arts,  cannot  be  conducted  with 
advantage  without  some  knowledge  of  this  kind,  and  has  been 
greatly  indebted  to  the  whole  circle  of  natural  sciences.  But 
especially  ought  we  cultivate  everything  wliich  may  tend  to 
give  simplicity,  energy  and  manliness  to  individual  character, 
and  to  cherish  industry,  economy,  and  enterprise  as  national 


Hall,  111.  Mo.  Mag.,  v.  1,  p.  316. 


72 

virtues.  In  this  country,  no  man  is  respected  for  mere  ac- 
complishments, no  man  can  become  distinguished  by  mere 
scholastic  learning.  But  a  still  further  effort  is  needed;  and 
the  friends  of  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  should  never  cease 
their  exertions  until  the  word  usefulness  has  been  inscribed 
in  legible  characters  upon  every  literary  institution  of  the 
country,  and  until  a  prominent  place  shall  be  given  to  the 
development  of  physical  truth  in  every  system  of 
instruction. ' '  ^^ 

Examinations. 

Another  of  the  few  sources  that  showed  the  internal 
workings  of  the  academies  w^as  the  system  of  examinations 
held  and  the  addresses  given  at  the  end  of  the  term.  A  com- 
mittee, appointed  by  the  board  of  trustees  or  the  proprietors 
of  the  academies  to  examine  the  instruction,  usually  consisted 
of  ministers.  The  pupils  performed  for  the  examiners  in 
special  exercises,  prepared  for  the  occasion,  in  the  presence 
of  parents  and  friends,  of  which  the  following  is  a  typical 
description : 

''And  first  in  order,  the  examination  of  the  school  comes; 
and  here  permit  me  to  say  that  if  they  acquitted  themselves 
on  the  last  examination  in  a  masterly  manner,  in  answering 
too  low,  on  this — they  ran  to  the  opposite  end  of  the  magnet 
in  speaking  too  loud,  tried  by  their  previous  standard.  Not- 
withstanding the  crowding  and  the  excessive  heat  of  the  day, 
which  brought  into  play  a  brilliant  array  of  fans,  every 
scholar  could  be  heard  with  distinctness  by  those  within;  and 
in  a  few  instances,  those  out  of  doors  could  hear  quite  plainly. 
We  saw  sufficient  to  be  satisfied  that  many  of  them  acquitted 
themselves  with  credit  and  promptness  and  apparent  thor- 
oughness; we  say  apparent,  because  it  is  a  glorious  fact  in 
many  instances  with  teachers,  that  a  studied  effort  is  made 
for  weeks  for  this  occasion  on  particular  points,  rules  and 
illustrations,  to  make  a  class  shine  well  before  an  audience." 

"The  reading  of  the  Intelligencer,  a  manuscript  paper 
published  by  the  young  gentlemen  of  the  school,  occupied  one 
hour.  An  article  on  the  origin  of  steam  boats  came,  which 
abounded  in  all  kinds  of  styles  save  an  original  one ;  historical 
essays,  if  sententious,  should  be  so  linked  as  to  blend  the  in- 

"Hall,  111.  Mo.  Mag.,  v.  1,  p.  316. 


73 

structive  with  the  interesting.  John  Bull  and  Uncle  Sam 
showed  that  the  writer  flourished  a  nervous  quill,  and  some- 
times became  so  nervous  as  to  lose  sight  of  the  truth.  He 
ought  to  hear  Dr.  Vinton  lecture  on  exaggeration,  and  after 
that,  compose  in  lucid  intervals.  A  dream  started  amid 
glorious  constellations  on  its  dreamland  mission.  'Ye  stars, 
how  he  did  soar.'  School  days  brought  to  many  a  mind  the 
happy  hours  of  youth.  'Prayer'  lacked  unity.  'The  Bible' 
was  the  most  logical  piece  read  and  showed  a  disciplined 
mind.  'The  identity  philosophy'  was  touched  on  lightly,  and 
the  theory  carried  out  very  well.  The  mystic  Swedenborg 
could  not  have  taken  a  plainer  position  as  far  as  the  writer 
went  out.  Man  was  adapted  to  infinity  and  nature  repeated 
him  in  all  conditions  of  animal  and  vegetable  life.  It  was  the 
doctrine  of  Plato  in  new  dress,  and  furnished  for  the  occasion, 
but  we  sincerely  believe  the  author  was  ignorant  of  the 
ground  we  walked  across." 

"The  Paine  and  Voltaire  school  received  a  withering 
rebuke.  'Looking  for  Items,'  was  a  brief  editorial  about  the 
world  in  miniature.  'Our  Paper,'  published  by  the  young 
ladies,  occupied  thirty  minutes.  It  was  read  in  a  very  low 
tone,  and  several  pieces  could  not  be  heard  at  all;  not  even 
the  subject  was  announced  audible.  This  was  bad,  it  ought 
not  to  be  so  loud,  but  readers  should  be  selected  for  public 
reading. ' ' 

"  'Our  School  Days,'  'Mourners.'  'Books,'  'Home,' 
'Mischiefmakers,'  'Words,'  were  brief  but  good.  'Twilight 
Thoughts '  was  stolen  goods  and  publicly  appropriated.  '  Close 
of  School '  was  a  very  touching  piece.  We  think,  ^\dthout  giv- 
ing a  prejudiced  opinion,  that  the  young  gentlemen's  paper 
was  the  best.  The  young  ladies  will  try  again  before  they 
deserve  the  palm  of  honor.  "^" 

Besides  this  kind  of  examination,  the  committee  of  ex- 
aminers heard  classes  and  individuals  recite  Latin  grammar, 
Latin  translation,  mathematics,  philosophy,  and  other  ordi- 
nary subjects  of  study.  Their  judgment  of  the  school  was 
based  on  the  ability  of  the  pupils  to  recite  from  memory 
formal  exercises. 

But  the  public  examinations  were  justified  by  the  acad- 
emy  because,  (a)  the  community  had  its  interest  awakened 

"Sang.  Jr..  July  2,  1858. 


74 

in  schools  and  education;  (b)  pupils  were  stimulated  to  better 
scholarship;  (c)  studies  were  reviewed  when  necessary.  A 
writer  in  the  Illinois  Teacher  stated  the  current  conception 
thus :  ' '  But  public  examinations  have  great  advantage  attend- 
ing them.  They  awaken  a  more  general  interest  in  the  com- 
munity at  large  on  the  subject  of  schools  and  education.  They 
furnish  an  occasion  for  many  good  things  to  be  said  in  the 
presence  of  parent  and  pupil.  They  stimulate  the  scholar 
to  great-er  exertion  and  more  accurate  scholarship.  Further- 
more, these  public  examinations  have  generally  been  made 
the  occasion  to  review  the  studies  pursued  by  the  joupils  dur- 
ing the  year.  Nothing  can  be  more  useful  than  this.  Review- 
ing studies  carefully  is  the  best  way  to  make  them  thoroughly 
understood.  It  is  true  this  can  be  done  without  any  such 
public  examination ;  but  it  will  be  more  likely  to  be  done,  and 
better  done,  with  it."^^ 

The  public  examination  was  an  occasion,  moreover,  for 
an  address  by  the  principal  to  the  parents  and  the  pupils  on 
the  worth  of  education.  Occasionally,  the  virtues  of  learning 
were  stated  in  very  modern  terms: 

1.  Education  had  a  commercial  value :  ' '  If  there  were  no 
other  considerations  to  prompt  you  to  a  faithful  improvement 
of  your  privileges  and  time,  the  results  in  your  favor,  in 
dollars  and  cents,  should  be  considered  sufficient  to  spring 
and  keep  alive  all  of  your  energies,  to  prepare,  for  your 
entrance  upon  the  business  transactions  of  life,  by  obtaining 
the  necessary  literary  qualiJfications.  ""^ 

2.  Mental  satisfaction  justified  the  efforts  required  to 
obtain  an  education:  ''Mental  satisfaction  alone  may  be  con- 
sidered infinitely  more  forcible,  and  contains  enough  in  it  to 
warrant  all  your  efforts.  The  mind  in  an  entire  uncultivated 
state  can  have  but  few  enjoyments,  but  when  enlightened, 
vast  fields  of  pleasure  open  before  it.  Truth  is  its  proper  ele- 
ment, and  as  the  various  order  of  beings  derive  most  of  en- 
joyment in  the  element  suited  to  their  natures,  so  the  mind 
has  most  of  enjoyment  when  in  the  possession  or  pursuits 
of  truth." 

''To  separate  truth  and  error — to  detect  the  rock  on 
which  your  bark  of  fortune  might  split — to  be  satisfied  that 

<"  Illinois  Teacher,  v.  1,  p.   83. 

•2  Trotter,  W.  D.,  Prin.   Salem  Acad,   in  San.  Jr.,   1858. 


75 

your  business,  when  transacted,  is  done  correctly — to  know 
what  man  is,  and  what  he  has  done  on  earth — to  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  physical  structure  of  the  globe  on  which 
he  dwells — the  different  orders  of  being  which  live  and  move 
through  its  expanse  of  waters,  or  inhabit  appropriate  divi- 
sions on  its  surface,  and  to  discover  the  harmony  of  all 
nature's  operations,  as  well  as  her  wonderful  power  to  ac- 
complish the  beneficient  purposes  of  the  Great  Creator,  in 
contributing  to  the  preservation  and  happiness  of  all  animal 
existence — are  some  of  the  few  purposes  of  mental  enjoy- 
ment."*^^ 

3.  The  foundation  of  a  republican  government  rested 
upon  education,  but  enough  has  been  said  already  on  that 
subject. 

4.  Social  relationships  required  educated  leaders:  ''But 
in  the  cultivation  of  the  mind,  materials  are  gathered  from 
social  intercourse  with  our  fellow  creatures;  and  as  society 
is  delightful  and  necessary  to  us  all,  there  is  an  obligation 
resting  upon  every  youth,  apart  from  numerous  inducements 
to  carry  with  him  into  the  w^orld  a  large  stock  of  information 
as  he  can  conmiand  *  *  *.  Young  Gentlemen !  Who  of  you 
will  step  forward  and  add  your  name  to  the  list  of  bene- 
factors of  the  human  race?  Do  you  emulate  the  fame  of  the 
truly  great  ?  This  is  the  way.  Do  you  aspire  to  leave  a  trace 
upon  the  earth,  which  the  touch  of  time  will  not  mar,  an  ex- 
panding field  for  effort,  not  for  ourselves  alone,  but  to 
bring  good  mentally,  socially,  politically  and  religiously  to 
others." 

This  chapter  has  shown  that  the  standards  for  admission 
to  academies  in  Illinois  were  singly  and  individually  de- 
termined; that  tuition  fees  were  charged  in  all  conceivable 
ways  by  subjects,  by  departments,  by  curricula,  and  by  fixed 
sums  for  all  subjects ;  that  other  items  of  cost  were  included 
in  pupil's  expenses,  chief  of  which  were  those  for  living 
accommodations ;  that  tuition  charges,  coupled  with  inaccessi- 
bility, made  the  academy  practically  a  select  institution  open 
only  to  those  who  could  afford  it. 

Moreover,  the  length  of  the  school  year,  the  division 
of  the  year,  and  the  length  of  the  school  day  were  in  no  sense 


"Trotter,  W.  D.,  Prin.  Salem  Acad,  in  San  Jr.,   1858. 


76 

uniform  throughout  the  state.  However,  nearly  every 
academy  did  retain  the  Latin  grammar  school  curriculum  as 
a  center  around  which  other  subjects  were  added  to  pre- 
pare students  for  the  useful  and  professional  positions  in 
life.  Besides  the  ancient  languages,  philosophy  and  arith- 
metic, modern  languages,  more  mathematical  subjects,  some 
social  sciences,  natural  and  physical  sciences,  cultural  and 
artistic  subjects,  and  manual  labor  were  introduced  into  the 
academic  program.  Formal  examinations  were  conducted  by 
a  committee  of  the  prominent  men  of  the  community,  usually 
ministers,  at  the  close  of  each  term  in  order  to  pass  judgment 
upon  the  efficiency  of  instruction.  Once  in  a  while,  the  mode 
of  teaching  was  such  as  to  indicate  to  the  pupil  some  of  the 
social  values  of  education.  The  utilitarian  aspect  of  the 
academy  is  well  explained  by  the  philosophy  underljang  the 
manual  labor  feature. 


77 


CHAPTER  VI. 


The  Manual  Labor  Aspect. 

To  the  professions,  the  Latin  granunar  school  and 
the  early  academy  had  ministered,  but  the  great  mass 
of  the  common  children  in  frontier  and  semi  frontier 
districts  were  unable  to  rise  from  their  common  station 
in  life  if  education  were  the  prerequisite.  Although  the  acad- 
emy may  be  said  to  have  represented  liberalism,  and  although 
it  was  a  frontier  institution,  it  was  essentially,  highly 
selective.  The  middle  and  upper  classes,  only,  could  take 
advantage  of  academic  education.  To  remedy  the  situation, 
the  idea  arose  of  establishing  manual  labor  academies  in 
strategic  positions  where  pupils  could  earn  a  part  of  their 
expenses,  where  the  common  child  could  have  the  privilege 
of  going  to  school,  where  habits  of  industry,  morality  and  in- 
dependence would  be  taught,  and  where  a  literary  education, 
comparable  to  that  given  in  the  usual  academy,  could  be  ob- 
tained. 

Generally  speaking,  the  manual  labor  movement  began 
in  the  United  States  about  1825,  chiefly  through  the  European 
influence  of  the  students  of  Fellenberg  in  Switzerland. 
Connecticut  organized  manual  labor  schools  in  1819,  Maine 
in  1821,  Massachusetts  in  1824,  New  York  in  1827,  and  New 
Jersey  in  1830.  Besides,  an  attempt  was  made  to  establish 
that  feature  in  the  already  existing  literary  institutions. 
Little  success  was  obtained  in  the  older,  more  firmly  estab- 
lished and  conservative  schools.  But  the  first  seminaries 
and  colleges  were  just  growing  up  in  the  West  where  new  and 
radical  features  were  more  likely  to  be  adopted.  Also,  the 
West  was  the  center  from  which  most  of  the  tracts  and  teach- 
ings of  the  principal  leaders,  Neef  and  Maclure  were  dis- 
tributed. Provided  with  an  abundance  of  cheap  land,  upon 
which  agricultural  and  some  mechanical  pursuits  could  be 


78 

carried  on,  it  was  very  easy  for  all  academies  and  colleges 
in  the  new  states  to  incorporate  that  attractive  and  so-called 
democratic  principle. 

In  the  eastern  states,  the  feature  was  shortlived.  By 
1840,  practically  all  talk  of  the  manual  labor  idea  had  ceased, 
but  the  West  continued  the  plan  to  the  close  of  the  national 
period.  After  the  ideas  of  Maclure  and  Neef  had  subsided, 
J.  B.  Turner,  of  Illinois  College,  where  the  system  was  in 
operation  for  a  few  years,  somewhat  changed  the  arguments 
to  those  that  should  favor  institutions  from  the  common 
schools  through  the  university  for  the  education  of  the  labor- 
ing people.  His  life  was  spent  in  continual  service  to  that 
ideal  until  congress  passed  the  Land  Grrant  Act  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  Agriculture  and  Mechanical  Colleges,  and  Illinois 
chartered  the  Industrial  University.  Thus,  the  manual  labor 
idea  in  Illinois  had  served  as  a  basis  for  the  more  liberal 
education  of  all  the  people,  not  only  for  the  professions,  but 
for  all  classes.  The  final  realization  of  many  of  the  aims  of 
the  original  advocates  of  manual  labor  came  with  the  intro- 
duction of  manual  training  in  the  high  schools,  about  1877. 
A  closer  examination  of  the  philosophy  and  examples  of  the 
establishment  of  the  so-called  Fellenberg  movement,  may  not 
be  out  of  place. 

Fellenberg  introduced  and  established  the  first  system 
of  utilitarian  education  in  the  canton  of  Berne,  Switzerland. 
Experiment  began  with  fifteen  or  twenty  poor  boys  whom 
he  taught  while  they  worked  on  the  farm  or  in  the  shop. 
The  poor  school  was  attached  to  a  rich  school,  where  noble 
youths  were  instructed.  The  latter  school  gave  him  consider- 
able reputation  and  a  great  deal  of  popularity  so  that  the 
number  in  the  former  was  increased  to  about  one  hundred. 

Joseph  Neef,  associated  with  Fellenberg  and  acquainted 
with  his  experiment,  was  induced  to  come  to  the  United 
States,  by  William  Maclure,  who  travelled  in  Europe  study- 
ing educational  movements.  Neef  began  a  school  in  Phila- 
delphia, but  later,  about  1825,  taught  a  school  in  New 
Harmony,  Indiana,  where  Maclure  was  sending  out  tracts 
on  the  Pestalozzian  and  Fellenberg  manner  of  instruction. 
The  manual  labor  feature  of  that  system  was  planned  for  the 
new  country  of  the  West. 


79 

''While  travelling  in  Europe,  having  observed  how 
nearly  some  establishments  in  Switzerland  were  enabled  to 
educate,  feed  and  clothe  children,  by  the  produce  of  their 
own  labor,  in  a  country  where  land  is  one  hundred  times  dear- 
er than  in  this  country,  and  labor  one-sixth  our  price,  the 
idea  suggested  itself  of  the  great  facility  of  accomplishing 
such  a  plan  here.  Circumstances  beyond  my  control,  have 
hitherto  prevented  the  trial;  but  conceiving  my  present  situ- 
ation favorable  for  such  an  experiment,  I  shall  attempt  it. 
It  is  more  than  probable,  by  the  old  spelling  and  horn-book 
system  of  five  or  six  years'  learning  to  read  or  write,  and 
eight  or  nine  years  on  Latin  or  Greek,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  make  children  productive  either  to  themselves  or  others. 
The  adoption  of  some  system  of  education,  limited  to  the 
useful,  omitting  all  the  speculative  and  the  ornamental,  is 
positively  necessary  to  the  success  of  such  an  undertaking."  ' 

The  principle  for  the  subjects  of  study  in  such  a  system 
was  based  on  this  foundation:  ''Mechanism,  that  injector 
of  mind  into  matter,  for  the  use  of  man  which  substitutes 
the  ingenious  organization  of  inert  substances,  in  the  place 
of  manual  labor,  furthers  the  progress  of  real  civilization, 
perhaps  more  than  anything  else.  It  is  more  than  probable 
that  the  knowledge  of  subduing  matter  to  the  use  of  man 
ought  to  be  the  foundation  of  all  useful  civilization,  and  the 
people  who  begin  otherwise,  begin  at  the  wrong  end.  The 
study  of  the  simple  mechanical  powers,  such  as  the  lever, 
screM%  pulley,  etc.,  progressing  gradually  toward  the  more 
complicated  calculation  of  wheel  work  and  the  application  of 
geometry  to  all  kinds  of  mill  work,  the  power  of  running 
water  and  practical  hydraulics,  are  all  to  be  learned  by  care- 
ful examination  of  the  machines  themselves.  The  simplest 
machinery  ought  to  be  studied  first,  such  as  the  most  perfect 
implements  of  husbandry,  and  of  all  the  useful  arts.  The 
more  complicated,  for  manufactories,  such  as  for  spinning 
and  weaving  cotton  and  wool,  the  construction  of  the  most 
improved  steam  engines,  being  more  difficult  ought  to  be 
learned  after  the  more  simple ;  but  as  all  mechanism  has  been 
contrived  as  our  wants  required,  it  must  therefore  be  con- 
sidered as  all  useful  and  necessary  to  the  occupations  of 


'  Maclure.  Opinions,  1819-31,  v.  1,  pp.  55-63. 


80 

man,  and  must  be  learnt  in  the  order  of  the  occupations  of 
man,  and  must  be  learnt  in  the  order  of  the  utility  *  *  * 
and  leaving  to  the  last  those  inventions  which  are  purely 
ornamental  or  for  the  facilitating  of  luxury.  Mechanism  by 
its  nature,  being  removed  from  all  delusions  of  fancy,  caprice 
or  imagination,  as  well  as  its  useful  applications  to  most  of 
the  occupations  of  man,  ought  to  be  the  solid  foundation  on 
which  is  built  the  future  happiness  and  prosperity  of  man- 
kind."' 

Although  natural  philosophy  was  a  subject  of  study  in 
the  academies  shortly  after  this  w^riting,  there  is  no  evidence 
to  show  that  the  principles  of  physics  were  developed  from 
the  simple  to  the  complex  and  made  a  useful  part  of  local 
industry  and  life. 

The  philosophy  of  the  system  of  manual  labor  found 
principally  the  following  values  favoring  it: 

1.  The  useful  alone  is  valuable,  for  ''when  we  abandon 
utility  as  the  scale  of  value,  we  are  adrift  on  the  sea  of 
caprice,  fancy  and  whim,  without  either  rudder  or  com- 
pass." ^ 

2.  Mental  and  physical  work  to  be  productive  must  be 
conjoined.  *'The  Pestalozzian  system  has  a  great  advantage 
in  all  schools  of  industry,  for  it  not  only  produces  both 
knowledge  and  property  at  the  same  time,  but  gives  a  habit 
of  working  and  thinking  conjointly,  which  lasts  during  life, 
and  doubles  their  powers  of  production,  while  it  alleviates 
the  fatigue  of  labor,  by  a  more  agreeable  occupation  of  the 
mind.  The  teaching  by  substance  or  their  representations, 
is  much  more  correct  and  pleasant,  than  the  dry  and  vague 
description  of  the  master ;  and  accompanying  the  lesson  with 
muscular  exercise,  is  far  more  healthy  than  sitting  two  or 
three  hours  on  a  stool  in  one  position,  when  both  body  and 
mind  remain  under  very  fatiguing  restraint,  injurious  equally 
to  the  powers  and  faculties,  exhausting  the  attention  with- 
out which  no  lasting  impression  can  be  made  either  in  adults 
or  children. ' '  * 

3.  Physical  and  mental  labor  conjoined  were  economical. 
'*The  care  and  economy  taught  by  the  Pestalozzian  system, 


*  Maclure,  Opinions,  1819-31,  v.  1,  pp.   55-63. 
'  Maclure,  Opinions,  v.  1,  p.  59. 

*  Maclure,  Opinions,  v.  1,  p.  87. 


81 

is  one  of  its  most  permanent  features.  For  the  youngest 
children  are  taught  to  keep  their  clothes  carefully,  to  give 
them  wash  and  receive  them  agreeably  to  the  list  and  to  mend 
them  when  worn  and  torn;  the  only  way  of  preventing  them 
from  destroying  them  through  life. ' '  ^ 

4.  This  system  saved  time  in  gaining  (a)  positive 
know^ledge.  ''By  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  that  can  be 
applied  to  all  the  occupations  of  life;  and  unchangeable 
truths  of  properties  of  men  and  things,  that  surrounding 
circumstances  bring  them  in  contact  with,  they  save  a  great 
deal  of  previous  time  by  gaining  as  much  information  in  a 
month,  as  they  would  in  a  year  by  the  old  method."  ^ 

(b)  This  system  saves  time  in  learning  a  trade.  "To 
multiply  and  exaggerate  the  difficulties  to  be  encountered 
in  teaching  all  the  arts  and  sciences,  would  appear  to  be 
one  of  the  great  objects  of  all  masters  and  professors;  it  is 
an  egotism  so  perfectly  consistent  with  the  principle  of  all 
commerce  and  trade,  to  buy  cheap  and  sell  dear,  that  it 
ought  to  be  expected;  what  else  could  induce  a  continuance 
of  the  old  system  of  retaining  an  apprentice  seven  years  to- 
learn  to  make  a  pair  of  shoes  or  sew  a  coat,  keeping  a  poor 
child  five  or  six  years,  tormented  with  a  spelling  book?  All 
trades  have  an  interest  in  enhancing  the  value  of  the  articles 
they  deal  in,  and  schoolmasters  have  no  other  way  of  in- 
creasing their  consequence,  than  by  giving  sparingly  the 
knowledge  they  possess,  to  their  pupils;  and  retaining  them 
as  long  under  their  tutelage  as  possible,  which  both  adds  to 
their  consideration  and  purse.  "^ 

5.  Work  connected  with  school  was  superior  to  play. 
"Children  lose  patience,  their  attention  is  fatigued,  and  their 
good-will  exhausted  by  being  kept  too  long  at  mental  exer- 
cises, and  their  instinct  suggests  the  necessity  of  keeping 
up  the  equilibrium  between  the  vital  power  or  force  expended 
by  muscular  action,  and  the  intellectual  exertions;  out  of 
which  necessity  originated  the  love  of  play  and  amusement, 
through  requiring  harder  labor  than  their  scholastic  studies, 
such  as  crooked  stick,  hand  and  foot  ball,  cricket,  etc.,  all 
creating  violent  competition,   and  the   useless   ambition   of 

» Maclure,  Opinions,  v.  1,  p.  91. 
*  Maclure,  Opinions,  v.  1,  p.  95. 
'  Maclure,  Opinions,  v.  1,  p.  65. 


82 

being  preeminent  in  a  struggle  that  tends  to  no  utility,  but 
serves  to  strengthen  and  excite  malevolent  passions  of  ill- 
will,  envy  and  hatred,  habituating  them  to  the  unsociable 
feeling  of  gaining  pleasure  by  others'  loss,  which  is  the  im- 
moral feature  of  all  amusing  contention  and  gambling.  When 
a  little  older,  they  follow  the  sports  of  men,  fishing,  shoot- 
ing, horse-racing,  cock-fighting,  bull-bating,  etc.,  all  torment- 
ing cruelties,  finishing  by  blood  and  slaughter,  strengthening 
and  augmenting  brutal  passions,  which  seem  peculiarly 
adapted  to  our  species,  from  the  Roman  gladiators,  dow^n  to 
the  British  boxers.  It  would  be  more  rational  to  amuse 
themselves  with  the  trade  of  a  butcher,  because  the  plea  of 
necessity  might  excuse  that  cruelty,  which  cannot  be  ad- 
vanced for  such  amusements.  ■  It  is  more  than  probable 
that  all  such  pleasures  and  pastimes  are  the  remains  of 
savage  barbarity,  kept  up  by  the  idle  and  tyrannical  con- 
sumers, imitated  by  the  ignorant  and  foolish  producers,  and 
perpetuated  and  enforced  by  long  habit." 

''If  pleasurable  ideas  can  by  habit  and  practice  be 
united  with  such  mortifying  exhibitions  of  human  depravity, 
where  every  result  is  annihilated  the  moment  the  action  is 
finished,  how  much  more  easy  would  it  be  for  teachers  to 
impress  on  the  tender  minds  of  children  the  union  of  pleasur- 
able ideas  with  the  useful  occupation  of  some  mechanical 
art."^ 

The  writer  furnished  the  following  example  and  argu- 
ment of  the  value  of  labor  compared  with  play.  Labor 
''would  furnish  the  necessary  muscular  exercise,  so  con- 
ductive to  health,  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  gratification 
would  be  prolonged  by  the  permanent  benefit  obtained  by 
the  utility  of  what  is  produced,  and  securing  pecuniary  in- 
dependence in  being  capable  of  practicing  a  productive  trade 
in  the  case  of  necessity.  The  being  taught  to  make  shoes  or 
coats  does  not  force  the  possessor  of  such  knowledge  to  be 
a  shoemaker  or  a  tailor,  any  more  than  learning  mensuration 
or  navigation  obliges  him  to  become  a  surveyor  or  sailor. 
Children  ought  to  be  trained  and  educated  to  suit  the  prob- 
able situation,  which  circumstances  of  the  next  generation 
may  place  them  in.    Even  at  the  present  time  all  our  farmers 


•Maclure,  Opinions,  v.  1,  p.  147. 


83 

and  manufacturers,  nine-tenths  of  our  population,  would  be 
very  much  benefited  by  possessing  one  or  two  mechanic  arts, 
suitable  to  their  occupations."^ 

6.  The  professions  were*  already  full.  In  order  to  live 
in  the  future  one  must  work.  ''Most  of  the  professions,  that 
do  not  require  manual  labor,  are  overdone  in  all  civilized 
countries;  and  in  this,  it  is  probable  in  the  next  age,  few 
will  be  able  to  live  comfortably,  without  the  aid  of  manual 
labor."  ^" 

7.  Labor  would  restore  equalit}^  and  bring  independence 
and  happiness,  the  absence  of  which  has  caused  violence  and 
crime.  Labor,  ''would  lay  the  foundation  of  a  highl}^  useful 
equality  and  independence ;  and  would  continue  to  strengthen 
through  life,  so  as  to  raise  them  far  above  all  vice  and  crime, 
for  the  great  and  unnatural  inequality  of  property,  know- 
ledge and  power  is  perhaps  the  cause  and  origin  of  all  force, 
violence  and  crime,  where  civilization  has  made  any  progress. 
AVe  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to  hope  that  the  great  radical, 
moral  reforms  now  begun,  will  secure  the  greatest  happiness 
to  the  greatest  number,  as  the  most  important  result  for 
abused  humanity."" 

However,  the  United  States  would  be  the  easiest  place 
on  earth  to  introduce  a  system  of  manual  labor  in  its  schools. 

"This,  of  all  the  countries  on  earth,  by  moral,  physical 
and  all  other  advantages,  is  most  fit  for  feeding,  clothing  and 
instructing  children  by  their  OAvn  labor.  The  cheapness  of 
land  and  most  raw  materials  that  it  produces,  joined  to  the 
excessive  dearness  of  every  species  of  labor,  renders  the 
experiment  almost  certain  of  success,  even  though  it  had 
failed  in  every  other  country."  ^^ 

The  location  should  be  healthy,  "removed  from  swamps 
or  stagnant  water,  on  or  near  canals,  great  roads  or  navi- 
gable rivers,  surrounded  at  least  by  two  acres  of  land  for 
every  child,  as  a  productive  farm  from  which  they  might 
obtain  wherewith  to  feed  them. ' '  ^^ 

The  house  should  be  "a  parallelogram  or  square  for 
centralizing  all  the  inhabitants,  that  the  least  time  might 


•Maclure,  Opinions,  v.   1.  p.  147. 
'0  Maclure,  Opinions,  v.   1,  p.  71. 
"Maclure,  Opinion,  v.   2,  p.  202. 
"Maclure,  Opinion,  v.  2,  p.  88. 
"Maclure,  Opinion, 'v.  2,  p.  135. 


84 

be  lost  in  changing  place.  A  courtyard  would  occupy  the 
center,  and  all  around  the  buildings  would  be  gardens,  both 
for  the  convenience  of  culture  and  the  collecting  of  fruit. ' '  ^^ 

Finally,  the  cost  for  the  foundation  of  a  system  of  edu- 
cation, combining  theory  and  practice,  would  be  moderate. 
**  Useful  and  profitable  labor  are  the  only  means  to  production, 
which  under  judicious  and  economical  management  will  sup- 
port and  maintain  all  the  expenses  of  the  establishment.  The 
first  expenditure  of  arranging  the  locality  and  some  outfits 
at  the  commencement  would  be  the  only  expense  out  of  the 
peoples'  purse." 

''That  children  by  their  own  labor  can  clothe,  feed  and 
educate  themselves,  is  completely  proven  in  other  countries, 
and  will  be  very  soon  in  this,  beyond  a  possibility  of  doubt ; 
after  which,  it  will  be  easy  for  the  inhabitants  to  subscribe 
and  buy  a  farm;  each  lending  a  hand  to  erect  buildings,  and 
begin  the  cultivation,  which  will  secure  a  useful  education 
to  their  children,  with  food  and  clothing,  when  the  manage- 
ment of  the  whole  will  be  under  the  direction  of  those  who 
are  interested  in  the  success  and  reap  the  benefiits  of  the 
establishment. ' ' " 

Besides  the  educational  tracts  that  Maclure  and  his  fol- 
lowers published  and  distributed,  the  newspapers  of  the  time 
published  articles  in  favor  of  the  manual  labor  system.  The 
Illinois  Intelligencer  had  this  to  say:  ''In  all  our  schools, 
and  especially  in  our  higher  seminaries,  systematic  exercise 
ought  to  be  introduced."  (Eiding,  walking,  climbing,  vaulting 
are  mentioned.)  "They  are  better  suited  to  the  playful  feel- 
ings of  children  than  to  the  chastened  affections  of  riper 
years."  (Manual  labor  takes  up  the  idle  time,  relieves  the 
children  from  mischief,  gives  money  to  the  needy  and  exer- 
cise to  all.)  "The  regulation  among  the  Jews  was  that  every 
child  should  be  taught  some  useful  trade,  was  founded  in 
wisdom  and  common  sense.  And  what  a  salutary  influence 
would  such  an  example  of  industry  in  those  who  are  to  move 
in  the  higher  walks  of  life,  produce  on  the  community.  How 
far  it  would  go  to  render  industry  honorable,  how  much 
useful  information  on  the  common  occupations  of  life,  would 
be   diffused  by   the  learned  through   the   lower   classes   of 


"  Maclure,  Opinions,  v.  1,  p.  70. 


85 

society.  Such  knowledge  would  be  useful  to  every  professional 
man  in  future  life,  and  especially  to  members  of  the  gospel 
in  our  new  settlements,  and  to  missionaries  to  the  heathen. 
Persons  thus  educated,  if  not  successful  in  their  profession, 
would  not  be  helpless.  Such  a  system  would  enable  those 
who  intend  to  devote  their  lives  to  agriculture,  mechanical, 
or  manufacturing  pursuits,  to  acquire  an  education,  and  then 
to  return  to  business  with  their  habits  unimpaired."  ^^ 

Convinced  that  a  proper  system  of  education  should  de- 
velop the  mental,  moral  and  physical,  the  manual  labor 
system  purported  to  unite  all  three  aims  in  one. 

The  constitution  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Synod, 
published  in  the  Illinois  Intelligencer,  November  11,  1825, 
provided  for  manual  labor  in  its  academies :  "The  committee 
acting  as  a  board  of  trustees,  shall  appoint  a  skillful  manager 
to  superintend  the  farming  establishment,  to  erect  cabins  and 
other  buildings,  and  to  take  charge  of  the  boarding  establish- 
ment :  that  every  student  shall  be  employed  in  manual  labor 
not  less  than  two  and  'Uot  more  than  three  hours  per  day; 
and  for  this  purpose  the  whole  number  of  students  shall  be 
divided  into  suitable  classes.  The  superintendent  of  the  farm 
shall  call  on  each  class  in  rotation  to  perform  their  term  of 
daily  labor,  and  shall  be  privileged  to  employ  them  at  such 
kind  of  labor,  principally,  agricultural,  as  may  afford  them 
exercise  and  conduce  to  the  interests  of  the  institution: — 
that  so  much  of  the  produce  of  the  farm  as  may  be  necessary 
shall  be  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  boarding  establish- 
ment." The  constitution  continued  to  speak  of  the  aims 
of  manual  labor,  most  of  which  have  been  indicated  above. 

Rock  Spring  Theological  and  High  School  contemplated 
''that  each  student  shall  labor  some  small  portion  of  his  time 
for  the  purpose  of  preserving  health,  gaining  useful  know- 
ledge in  agriculture  and  domestic  economy,  and  lessening 
expense.  It  was  Resolved,  That  a  farm  be  connected  with 
the  institution. ' '  ^® 

The  education  of  the  Indian,  as  was  to  be  expected, 
followed  similar  lines.  ''There  are  98  Indian  children — 58 
boys — the  rest  girls.  There  are  two  male,  and  two  women 
teachers  besides  a  man  who  oversees  the  work  on  the  farm. 

"  111.  Int..  Oct.  30,  1830. 
"111.    Int.    Mch.    24.    1827. 


86 

Four  mechanics  are  employed — six  boys  work  with  them — 
learning  the  trade  of  carpenter,  wheelright,  blacksmith  and 
shoemaker.  These  children  gradually  learn  fast  and  work 
well;  and  both  they  and  their  parents  are  generally  well 
pleased  with  the  school."  ^^ 

Provisions  in  the  charters  of  a  great  number  of  acad- 
emies and  schools  showed  that  manual  labor  was  a  common 
idea  of  the  times.  The  Chatham  Manual  Labor  School 
provided  that  ''the  board  of  trustees  shall  have  entire  con- 
trol of  the  system  of  manual  labor,  and  shall  determine  the 
proportion  of  labor  of  each  student,  and  no  student  shall  be 
received  as  a  regular  member  of  the  school,  unless  he  submits 
to  the  performance  of  such  an  amount  of  labor  as  is  enjoined 
by  the  trustees,  and  the  trustees  shall  account  to  each  student, 
for  such  labor,  which  shall  be  appropriated  to  discharge  his 
expenses  in  said  school.  "^^ 

Moreover,  literary  institutions  as  well  as  specific  manual 
labor  schools,  had  a  system  of  labor.  Peck  described  the 
operation  of  work  at  Illinois  College  thus:  "There  are  also 
upon  the  premises  a  farm,  house,  barn  and  workshop  for 
students  to  use  to  perform  manual  labor.  The  farm  consists 
of  300  acres  of  land,  all  under  fence.  The  improvements  and 
stock  on  the  farm  are  valued  at  several  thousand  dollars. 
Students  who  choose  are  allowed  to  employ  a  portion  of  each 
day  in  manual  labor,  either  upon  the  farm  or  in  the  work 
shop.   Some  individuals  earn  $150  each,  during  the  year."^* 

Niles  Weekly  Register,  published  in  Baltimore,  praised 
the  system  in  the  West.  "We  are  glad  to  hear  that  manual 
labor  colleges  and  schools  in  Indiana,  the  true  and  only  sys- 
tem of  education  for  democracies,  are  in  a  flourishing  con- 
dition in  that  part  of  the  country.  We  hope  the  sound  sense 
and  good  example  of  the  Hoosiers  will  be  in  a  few  years  from 
this  time  adopted  throughout  the  United  States,  and  that  the 
ancient  aristocratic  prejudices  of  cloister  learning,  will  be 
dispelled  before  the  light  of  modern  truth  and  science  which 
is  penetrating  everywhere  through  the  darkness  of  obsolete 
usages,  and  preconceived  error,  deep-rooted  for  ages,  but 
now  to  be  unlearned."  ^"^ 


"  2-3  An.  Rep.,  M.  B.  Miss.  Soc,  p.  28. 
"Sess.    Laws,    1835-6,    p.    169. 
"Peck,   Gazetteer,    p.    69. 
*•  Niles  Weekly   Register,    Aug.    1,    1840. 


87 

The  feature  of  manual  labor  continued  a  long  time  in 
Illinois  though  at  a  later  date,  it  was  very  much  more  specific 
in  its  purpose.  Whether  it  was  the  cause  of  the  name  given 
to  the  University  of  Illinois,  Illinois  Industrial  University, 
it  will  be  difficult  to  say,  but  the  manual  labor  idea  came  to 
play  a  large  part  in  the  establishment  of  a  university  for  the 
working  people. 

In  advocating  a  peoples'  university,  a  writer  in  the 
Prairie  Farmer,  made  use  of  the  manual  labor  principle. 
"What  we  want,  to  begin  with,  is  simply  a  Manual  Labor 
School;  we  would  call  it  a  Farm  School,  because  there  is  the 
aroma  of  a  House  of  Correction  about  the  words,  "Manual 
Labor,"  that  is  suggestive  of  juvenile  depravity,  and  of  whole- 
some restraint,  and  "hard  labor  for  the  term  of  three  years," 
as  connected  therewith.  We  want  a  plain  Farm  Scliool,  for 
the  sons  of  farmers.  Let  them  be  sent  to  this  school  at  any 
age  between  eight  and  eighteen,  as  to  an  academy.  Let  their 
education  be  conducted  as  is  usual  in  academies,  except  that 
more  attention  shall  be  paid  to  two  branches,  which  will  be 
practically  useful  in  their  future  progress." 

"The  great  distinguishing  feature  of  this  establishment 
should  be  a  farm  of  about  two  hundred  acres,  where  could 
be  kept  stock  of  every  description,  fruit  trees  of  all  kinds, 
etc.  Here  could  be  shown  the  advantages  of  scientific  culti- 
vation ;  for  unless  it  is  advantageous,  it  is  not  needed.  Here 
should  be  tested  our  theories  of  manures,  general  and  special ; 
the  various  methods  and  modes  of  planting,  and  breedhig  and 
harvesting  crops.  And  here  should  be  solved  that  Sphinx- 
riddle,  "Does  farming  pay?" 

'Here  the  young  farmer  should  be  taught  all  that  in  any 
wise  pertains  to  his  future  occupation.  He  should  learn  to 
analyze  soils,  and  crops ;  so  as  to  ascertain  the  wants  of  one, 
and  the  possible  deficiencies  of  the  other.  He  should  here 
learn  the  use  of  implements,  not  only  of  his  own  trade,  but 
of  those  of  the  blacksmith  and  carpenter  and  wheelwright, 
as  well ;  so  that  rainy  days  on  his  farm  should  never  be  lost 
days,  as  is  too  often  the  case.  He  should  learn  to  take  care 
of  animals;  to  judge  of  their  points;  and  to  slaughter  thom. 
In  fact,  he  should  be  here  trained  systematically,  as  he  could 
not  be  at  home,  in  every  branch  of  a  farmers'  profession."  " 

"Prairie   Farmer,  v.   12,   p.    185. 


88 

"The  principle  of  labor  to  be  recognized,  and  to  be  equal, 
according  to  the  physical  ability  of  each  pupil;  but  not  to 
be  so  constant  or  considerable  as  to  interfere  with  a  due 
amount  of  study,  and  heartfelt  recreation.  The  laboring  more 
for  practical  instruction  of  the  pupil,  than  a  matter  of  profit 
to  the  institution,  though  it  shall  be  so  conducted  as  to  insure 
the  most  profit,  consistent  with  the  main  aim  of  the  instruc- 
tion of  pupils." 

*'The  institution  to  be  open  to  all,  on  some  basis  of 
representation  and  contribution,  and  instruction  free.  The 
productive  labor  of  each  pupil  to  be  credited  to  his  boarding, 
and  incidental  expenses.  Nothing  but  the  useful  and  prac- 
tical to  be  taught  and  the  dignity  of  labor  and  moral  worth, 
to  take  precedence  of  old  custom,  and  barren  learning. ' '  ^- 

Before  considering  the  common  school  a  summary  of 
this  chapter,  and  of  the  opportunities  offered  by  the  academy 
is  made. 

The  Fellenberg  movement  originated  in  Switzerland 
about  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Joseph  Neef, 
a  pupil  of  and  a  teacher  with  Fellenberg,  was  induced  by 
AVilliam  Maclure  to  come  to  the  United  States  to  inaugurate 
this  system.  After  some  attempts  in  the  East,  Neef  and 
Maclure  were  found  at  New  Harmony,  Ind.,  in  1825,  teach- 
ing and  distributing  their  ideas.  The  advantages  claimed 
for  the  new  scheme  were :  1.  The  useful  alone  was  valuable ; 
2.  mental  and  physical  work  were  valuable  only  when  con- 
joined; 3.  mental  and  physical  work  were  economical;  4.  time 
was  saved  in  gaining  positive  knowledge,  and  in  learning  a 
trade;  5.  work,  connected  with  manual  labor,  took  the  place 
of  useless  and  harmful  play;  6.  new  opportunities  were 
opened  up  by  which  a  living  could  be  earned ;  7.  above  all,  the 
system  was  democratic  because  it  brought  equality,  happi- 
ness and  independence  to  all;  8.  the  cost  of  theoretical  and 
practical  education  was  moderate. 

No  less  convinced  were  the  newspapers,  churches,  mis- 
sionary societies  and  educational  leaders  of  Illinois  of  the 
value  of  the  plan  of  manual  labor  advocated  by  Maclure  and 
Neef.  Accordingly,  manual  labor  schools  were  established 
and  that  feature  was  incorporated  in  several  literary  institu- 


"  Prairie  Farmer,  v.  12,  p.  455. 


89 

tions.  That  idea,  more  specific,  more  refined  and  more  ex- 
tended, was  the  basis  upon  which  the  Land  Grant  Act  was 
made,  the  Illinois  Industrial  University  was  chartered  and 
manual  training  in  high  schools  was  begun. 

The  academy  in  Illinois  was  a  well  established  institu- 
tion by  1850.  Up  to  that  time,  there  was  practically  no  other 
means  in  the  state  for  obtaining  a  useful,  cultural,  or  a 
professional  secondary  education.  But  the  academy  was 
limited  in  its  clientele  because  communication  was  undevel- 
oped, transportation  by  railroad  was  possible  only  between 
the  chief  towns,  and  wagon  roads,  a  greater  part  of  the  year, 
were  too  muddy  for  convenient  travel.  Consequently,  chart- 
ered or  private  academic  institutions  had  to  be  established 
in  toAvns  where  there  was  the  possibility  of  having  a  local 
student  body.  Of  course,  non-resident  pupils  were  welcomed 
but  they  came  in  no  large  numbers.  From  the  sources  of 
student  population,  sufficient  numbers  to  maintain  a  school 
were  frequently  lacking,  so  that  the  academy  had  to  close 
its  doors  or  sell  to  a  more  enterprising  master.  For  example, 
in  the  period  from  1835  to  1840,  Springfield  had  a  succession 
of  eight  or  ten  institutions,  struggling  for  a  year  or  so,  and 
then  passing  out  of  existence.  In  spite  of  the  short  life, 
especially  of  the  unchartered  institutions,  and  several  of 
the  chartered  academies,  the  academic  system  was  kept  in 
existence  in  the  larger  towns  until  the  free  school  law  of  1855 
made  it  possible  for  the  academies  to  have  public  support. 
Usually  in  the  North,  the  weaker  institutions  took  advantage 
of  the  law,  but  some  of  the  stronger  and  well  supported 
academies  that  had  less  need  for  public  financial  aid,  con- 
tinued to  serve  the  more  select  group  of  people. 

It  was  evident,  therefore,  that  many  of  the  children  of 
the  state  were  unable  to  attend  academies.  But  the  people 
were  too  close  to  the  traditions  of  the  states  from  whence 
they  migrated  not  to  make  attempts  to  provide  some  of  the 
educational  means  that  were  used  at  home.  Hence,  the  next 
division  will  consider  the  common  school  system  as  distin- 
guished from  the  academy,  and  will  show  how  the  upper  part 
of  the  former  ordinarily  developed  into  the  free  public  high 
school,  and  the  means  by  which  the  latter  was  permitted  to 
become  a  free  institution  if  it  so  desired. 


90 


PART  II.     THE  COMMON  SCHOOL. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


The  Apprenticeship  System. 

Tlie  educational  provision  for  the  well-to-do  classes  has 
been  discussed  in  the  chapters  on  the  academies.  The  poor 
people  from  early  colonial  days  on,  were  apprenticed  to 
masters  as  indentured  servants  in  order  to  learn  a  trade  or 
profession.  Ordinarily,  the  term  of  service  was  seven  years, 
but  the  boys  had  to  serve  the  master  until  they  became  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  and  the  girls,  eighteen  years  of  age.  The 
apprentice  received  no  wage  in  the  industry  in  which  he 
worked.  His  responsibility  was  to  the  master  instead  of  to 
the  parent.  But  the  master  was  required  to  furnish  the  ap- 
prentice with  clothing,  food  and  a  home,  as  well  as  to  look 
after  his  morals  and  to  teach  him  the  craft. 

The  master  had  to  train  the  indentured  servant  in  the 
mystery  of  the  craft  so  that  the  latter  could  become  a  self- 
supporting  individual.  About  the  last  half  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  a  policy  developed  which  required  the  master 
also  to  teach  the  servant  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic. 
This  applied  to  the  principal  industries  and  professions  of 
the  time,  namely,  shipping,  agriculture,  household  service, 
commerce*  teaching,  law  and  medicine.  The  reading  of  law 
and  the  reading  of  medicine  in  the  offices  of  eminent  local 
la\^^^ers  and  physicians  is  but  the  survival  of  the  apprentice- 
ship system. 

Moreover,  the  early  laws  required,  quite  frequently,  that 
the  apprentice  pay  an  enrollment  and  an  exit  fee.  The 
master  had  to  acknowledge  the  indenture  before  a  court  of 
record  which  made  the  contract  a  public  affair.  This  public 
enrollment  was  necessary  to  insure  both  parties  to  the  con- 
tract against  the  violation  of  the  agreement.  If  either  party 
failed  to  live  up  to  the  terms  of  the  contract,  he  was  liable  to 
summons  before  the  police  power  of  the  locality.    The  master 


91 

could  bo  discharcced  and  the  servant  bound  out  to  another. 
The  servant  was  liable  to  the  penalty  of  a  fine  and  the  length- 
ening of  the  term  of  service. 

Indentured  servants,  early  in  colonial  days,  were  mostly 
white  persons :  debtors,  soldiers  of  fortune,  orphans  and  kid- 
napped children,  all  from  Europe,  as  well  as  poor  people  who 
sold  themselves  to  ship  owners  for  passage  to  the  new  world. 
Not  until  the  eighteenth  century  did  the  negro  indentured 
class  outnumber  the  whites.  One  of  the  prominent  educa- 
tional problems  of  that  day  was  the  instruction  of  all  classes 
of  indentured  servants.  The  southern  colonies  required 
reading  taught  to  the  negro  and  the  white,  with  writing  and 
arithmetic  to  the  latter,  in  addition. 

No"\t^  the  eastern  and  southern  states,  bj^  1818,  had  not 
given  up  completely  the  master  and  servant  means  of  edu- 
catmg  the  children  of  the  common  man.  But  as  has  been 
pointed  out,  Illinois  had  few  eastern  settlers  until  1830.  Con- 
sequently, the  apprenticeship  system  was  established  by  law, 
which  was  mainly  southern,  the  principal  features  of  which 
were  these: 

1.  Boys  under  twenty-one  and  girls  under  eighteen  might 
be  apprenticed  with  or  without  the  consent  of  the  parent  or 
guardian. 

2.  The  mother  of  illegitimate  children  should  bind  them 
over  to  a  master. 

3.  If  the  father  was  dead,  a  fugitive  from  justice  or  in- 
capacitated, the  mother  had  the  right  to  apprentice  his 
children. 

4.  Poor  children  were  bound  to  a  master  by  the  overseers 
of  the  poor. 

5.  A  copy  of  the  indenture  should  be  recorded  with  the 
probate  judge. 

6.  The  probate  judge,  or  two  justices  of  the  peace  were 
empowered  to  receive  complaints  of  apprentices  and  summon 
the  master  to  appear  in  court. 

7.  A  penalty  was  imposed  on  the  apprentice  for  assault 
on  the  master,  or  the  violation  of  the  terms  of  the  contract. 

8.  The  apprentice  could  not  be  removed  from  the  state. 

9.  The  master  had  to  furnish  the  apprentice  comfortable 
board,  lodging,  washing,  clothing  and  so  much  schooling  as 
shall  be  deemed  right. 


92 

10.  ''That  the  master  or  mistress  to  whom  such  child 
shall  be  bound,  as  aforesaid,  shall  cause  such  child  to  be 
taught  to  read  and  write,  and  the  ground  rules  of  arithmetic, 
and,  shall  give  also  unto  such  apprentices,  a  new  Bible,  and 
two  new  suits  of  clothes,  suitable  to  his  or  her  condition  at 
the  expiration  of  his  or  her  term  of  service.  Provided  how- 
ever, that  when  such  apprentice  is  a  negro  or  mulatto  child, 
it  shall  not  be  necessary  to  insert  in  said  indenture  that  such 
negro  or  mulatto  shall  be  taught  to  write,  or  the  knowledge 
of  arithmetic. ' '  ^ 

11.  If  a  guardian  failed  to  educate  his  apprentice  in 
reading,  writing  and  the  ground  rules  of  arithmetic,  the  pro- 
bate judge  was  empowered  to  appoint  another  master,  ''and 
superintend  the  education  of  such  minor  or  orphan. ' '  ^ 

As  late  as  1840,  indentures  were  still  being  made  for 
white  children,  an  example  of  which  follows:  "This  Inden- 
ture made  and  entered  into  this  31st  day  of  August,  A.  D., 
1840,  between  James  Thompson  and  George  Thompson, 
minors,  of  their  own  free  will  and  consent,  and  by  and  with 
the  consent  and  approbation  of  William  Thompson,  their 
father,  of  the  county  of  Shelby  and  the  State  of  Illinois  of 
the  one  part,  and  Daniel  Golloher  of  the  same  county  and  the 
State,  of  the  other  part  witnessesth:  that  the  same  James 
Thompson  and  George  Thompson  does  by  these  presents 
of  their  own  free  will  and  accord  and  by  and  with  the  consent 
of  William  Thompson,  their  father,  bind  each  of  themselves 
to  the  said  Daniel  Golloher  as  an  apprentice  to  learn  the  art 
of  Farming,  to  dwell  with  and  serve  the  said  Daniel  Golloher 
from  the  day  of  the  date  hereof,  until  the  10th  day  of  August, 
1850,  at  which  time  the  said  James  Thompson  will  be  twenty- 
one  years  old,  And  the  said  George  Thompson  until  the  17th 
day  of  September,  A.  D.,  1851,  at  which  time  the  said  George 
Thompson  will  be  twenty-one  years  old,  during  all  of  which 
time  or  term  the  said  Apprentices  their  said  Master  will  and 
faithfully  shall  serve,  his  secrets  to  keep,  and  his  lawful 
commands  everywhere  at  all  times  readily  obey,  they  or 
either  of  them  shall  do  no  damage  to  their  said  Master  nor 
knowingly  suffer  au}^  to  be  done  by  others,  they  or  either  of 
them  shall  not  waste  the  Goods  of  their  said  Master,  nor  lend 

>  Sess.  Laws,  1826. 
'Sess.  Laws,  1830. 


93 

them  unlawfully  to  any.  At  cards,  dice  or  any  other  unlawful 
Game  they  shall  not  play,  Matrimony  either  of  them  shall 
not  contract  during  their  said  term.  Taverns,  Ail-houses,  and 
places  of  Gaming  they  shall  not  frequent  or  resort  from  the 
service  of  their  said  Master,  either  of  them  shall  not  absent 
himself,  but  in  all  things  and  at  all  times  they  and  each  of  them 
shall  demean  and  conduct  themselves  as  good  Apprentices — 
words  can't  tell — during  the  whole  term  aforsesaid.  And 
the  said  Daniel  Golloher  on  his  part  does  hereby  Covenant 
and  agree  to  furnish  each  of  the  said  Apprentices  good  and 
sufficient  diet,  clothing,  lodging,  and  the  other  necessaries 
convenient  and  useful  for  said  Apprentices  during  the  whole 
term  aforesaid,  and  also  shall  cause  each  of  said  Apprentices 
to  be  taught  to  read  and  write,  and  the  Ground  rules  of  Arith- 
metic, and  shall  also  give  unto  each  of  the  said  Apprentices 
a  New  Bible  and  two  new  Suits  of  Clothes  suitable  to  their 
condition  at  the  expiration  of  their  term  of  service,  and  also 
Eighty  Acres  of  Common  Land  for  each  fit  for  farming  to  be 
as  near  as  may  be  to  timber  and  prairie  or  all  timber  and  In 
testimony  whereof  we  have  hereunto  Set  our  hands  and 
Scale  the  day  and  year  first  written. 

his 
Attest  Joseph  Oliver  James   X    Thompson  Seal 

mark 

his 
George   X    Thompson  Seal 
mark 

his 
William   X    Thompson  Seal 
mark 

Daniel  Golloher  SeaP 

As  early  as  1819,  negro  indentures  were  recorded  at 
Edwardsville.  The  following  excerpt  from  one  of  those  rec- 
ords showed  the  personal  and  educational  provision  of  the 
contract:  ''During  all  which  term  the  said  boys  shall  faith- 
fully serve  and  obey  all  the  lawful  commands  of  their  said 
mistress.  And  on  her  part  said  Elizabeth  doth  bind  and  here- 
by obligate  herself,  her  heirs,  etc.,  to  teach  or  cause  to  be 

3  Shelby  County  Probate  Record.  1839-49,  v.  1,  p.  52. 


94 

taught  both  said  boys  to  read.  Should  their  abilities  enable 
her  to  so  do  and  also  to  provide  and  furnish  them  with  good 
wholesome  food,  clothing  and  lodging  suitable  for  persons  in 
their  condition. '  '*  * 

Slavery  and  colored  indentures  were  closely  related  in 
Illinois.  The  Intelligencer,  August  12,  1818,  advocated  a  sys- 
tem of  indenture  with  a  term  of  service  of  forty  years  in 
which  the  servants  were  to  be  instructed  in  religion  and  the 
rudiments  of  education.  ''The  word  'servant'  was  used  to 
cover  a  multitude  of  sins.  No  matter  under  what  name  the 
farmers  held  their  negroes — whether  as  'servants,'  'yellow 
boys,'  or  'colored  girls' — the  fact  still  remained  that  slavery 
existed  in  the  Territory  of  Illinois  as  completely  as  in  any  of 
the  Southern  States.  It  was  not  limited  to  settlements  and 
towns  along  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Elvers,  but  was  prac- 
ticed all  over  the  southern  portion  of  what  is  now  the  State 
of  Illinois,  and  as  far  north  as  Sangamon  county,  which  was 
then  just  beginning  to  be  settled.'"' 

But  Illinois  was  admitted  as  a  free  state.  In  the  consti- 
tutional convention,  three  classes  of  men  existed — those  for 
slavery,  those  against  slavery,  and  those  who  wished  to  com- 
promise. The  latter,  being  the  larger,  won.  The  constitution 
was  adopted  and  Illinois  admitted  on  the  ground  that  the 
Ordinance  of  1787,  governing  the  Northwest  Territory,  did 
not  apply  to  negroes  already  held  as  slaves  in  Illinois  at  the 
time  when  it  was  enacted.  "The  state  was  admitted,  and  the 
right  to  retain  negroes  as  indentured  servants  was  recognized 
and  secured. '"^ 

Slavery  was  tacitly  recognized  by  the  sixth  article  of  the 
Constitution  of  1818  in  the  form  of  indentures  for  one  year 
with  the  right  of  renewal.  "Neither  slavery  nor  Involuntary 
servitude  shall  hereafter  be  introduced  into  this  state  other- 
wise than  for  the  punishment  of  crimes  whereof  the  party 
shall  have  been  duly  convicted.  Nor  shall  any  male  person 
arrived  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  nor  any  female  person 
arrived  at  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  be  held  to  serve  any 
person  as  a  servant  under  any  indenture  hereafter  made, 


•  A  Register  of  Papers  Belonging  to  Free  Persons  of  Color,  Madison  Co. 

•  The  Illinois   Census  of   1835   showed   304   negro   indentures. 

•  The  Illinois  Census  of  1845  showed  226  negrro  indentures. 
» Harris,  Negro  Servitude  in  Illinois,  p.   15. 

•Harris,  Negro  Servitude  in  Illinois,  p.  26. 


95 

unless  such  person  shall  enter  into  such  indenture  while  in  a 
state  of  perfect  freedom,  and  on  condition  that  a  bona  fide 
consideration  received  or  to  be  received  for  their  service. 
Nor  shall  an}^  indenture  of  any  negro  or  mulatto  hereafter 
made  and  executed  out  of  this  state,  or  if  made  in  this  state, 
where  the  term  of  service  exceeds  one  year,  be  of  the  least 
validity,  except  those  given  in  the  case  of  apprenticeship.'" 

The  education  of  the  negro  and  the  mulatto  was  bound 
up  with  the  system  of  indentures.  The  apprenticeship  sys- 
tem was,  moreover,  recognized  by  the  state  constitution. 

Two  forms  of  apprenticeship  education  have  existed  in 
the  United  States.  The  colonial  system  depended  on  the  per- 
sonal relation  between  master  and  servant.  The  system  since 
the  Civil  War  has  had  no  personal  or  domestic  element,  being 
a  means  by  which  entrance  to  some  trades  could  be  had.  The 
former  had  the  advantage  by  which  the  apprentice  could 
learn  a  trade  and  all  of  its  ramifications.  Moreover,  the  ap- 
prentice, living  in  the  household  of  his  master  was  considered 
as  one  of  the  family,  on  the  same  social  basis  as  the  master 
and  eligible  to  marry  his  master's  daughter,  but  the  term  of 
service  of  seven  years  was  so  long  that  the  apprentice  spent 
a  lot  of  time  in  work  not  connected  with  his  future  trade. 
That  work,  usually,  was  day  labor  on  the  farm,  and  the  ap- 
prentice was  virtually  a  slave,  so  classed  in  some  of  the  col- 
onial laws.  Naturally,  it  was  hard  to  hold  youth  in  America 
to  the  apprenticeship  system  because  they  could  run  away  to 
the  frontier,  take  up  land  for  themselves  and  become  inde- 
pendent. Consequently,  the  system  was  limited  to  small 
numbers  of  youth,  either  the  poor  who  were  public  charges, 
or  the  negroes  who  could  not  escape  the  yoke  of  servitude. 
The  latter  was  made  a  slave  in  the  free  state  of  Illinois  by 
the  indentures,  renewable  at  the  expiration  of  one  year.  How- 
ever, in  all  cases,  the  master  was  required  to  fulfill  his  obli- 
gation in  endeavoring  to  teach  or  causing  to  be  taught,  the 
apprentice. 

The  academj^  provided  education  for  the  wealthy,  the 
indenture  system  provided  for  some  of  the  public  poor  and 
the  negroes;  the  next  discussion  will  consider  the  first  at- 
tempt for  the  free  education  of  all  the  children  of  the  state. 

'  Constitution  of  1818.  Art.  VI. 


96 


CHAPTER  Vm. 


The  Free  School  Law  of  1825. 

Before  discussing  the  results  of  slavery  on  the  whole 
educational  system  of  Illinois,  a  brief  statement  of  the 
slavery  struggle  from  1818  to  1825,  should  be  given.  The 
Illinois  representatives  in  Congress  voted  against  Missouri 
entering  as  a  slave  state.  The  majority  of  the  people  of 
Illinois  were  angry  at  that  vote.  The  southern  sympathizers 
decided  to  retaliate.  They  began  to  organize  a  plot  to  call  a 
convention  to  change  the  constitution  of  the  state  to  permit 
slavery.  The  Spectator,  published  at  Edwardsville,  exposed 
the  undertaking,  with  the  result  that  the  plan  for  calling  a 
constitutional  convention  failed  for  the  time  being.  In  1822, 
senators,  representatives,  a  governor  and  legislators  were  to 
be  elected.  The  anti-slavery  men  won  the  congressional  elec- 
tion and  the  governorship,  but  the  pro-slavery  men  succeeded 
in  winning  a  majority  of  the  seats  in  the  state  legislature. 
Shameful  proceedings  were  carried  through  the  state  legis- 
lature and  a  resolution  was  passed  for  a  constitutional  con- 
vention. Organizations  were  built  up  on  both  sides.  The  pro- 
slavery  men  established  a  central  organization  at  Vandalia 
with  committees  in  all  the  counties  of  the  state.  A  secret 
convention  was  held  by  the  anti-slavery  men,  made  up  of 
Rev.  J.  M.  Peck,  thirty  other  preachers  and  Grovernor  Coles. 
Pamphlets  were  distributed  by  the  thousands  to  the  people 
of  Illinois,  through  this  organization.  Birkbeck,  the  English 
farmer  of  southern  Illinois,  wrote  excellent  articles  against 
slavery  which  were  very  effective.  Coles  bought  the  Intelli- 
gencer, published  at  Vandalia,  and  had  copies  containing 
much  anti-slavery  material  sent  to  the  old  subscribers  even 
if  they  failed  to  pay  their  subscriptions.  When  the  vote  came 
for  a  convention  and  slavery  it  was  defeated. 

The  results  of  the  victory,  at  least  to  the  people  of  Illi- 
nois, were  very  great.    The  question,  whether  Illinois  should 


97 

be  a  slave  or  a  free  state,  was  settled  forever.  A  contest  with: 
the  federal  government  over  the  question  of  changing  the 
constitution,  through  which  Illinois  entered  the  Union,  to  one 
that  would  recognize  slavery,  was.  prevented.  Free  jabor,  the 
energetic  and  progressive  farmer  with  the  merchant  and 
professional  men  from  the  East,  developed  the  country  other- 
wise impossible  with  slavery  tacitly  recognized.  Finally, 
southern  immigration  with  its  institutions,  was  checked.  The 
easterner  began  to  supplant  the  southerner.  New  ideas  of 
the  rights  of  the  children  of  the  common  man  were  brought 
along.  The  New  England  common  school  began  to  be  ad- 
vocated. 

However,  a  few  leaders,  such  as  General  Duncan,  Rev. 
Peck  and  Governor  Coles  saw  the  tremendous  importance 
of  the  education  of  the  children  of  the  state,  before  many 
New  Englanders  had  arrived.  These  leaders  believed  that 
slavery  and  ignorance  were  the  twin  relics  of  barbarism.  The 
surest  way  to  save  the  state  from  the  blight  of  slavery  was 
through  enlightenment.  The  older  people  were,  perhaps, 
beyond  the  direct  influence  of  schools,  but  the  youth  must  be 
taught  the  evils  of  slavery  and  ignorance,  in  free  schools 
provided  by  the  state,  in  order  to  insure  the  future  of  the 
state  and  the  Republic.  The  preamble  of  the  Free  School 
Law  of  1825  was  the  classic  statement  of  those  ideals: 

''To  enjoy  our  rights  and  liberties,  we  must  understand 
them; — their  security  and  protection  ought  to  be  the  first 
object  of  a  free  people;— and  it  is  a  well  established  fact  no 
nation  has  ever  continued  long  in  the  enjoyment  of  civil  and 
political  freedom,  which  was  not  both  virtuous  and  enlight- 
ened;— and  believing  that  advancement  of  literature  always 
has  been,  and  ever  will  be  the  means  of  developing  more  fully 
the  rights  of  man;— that  the  mind  of  every  citizen  of  every 
republic,  is  the  common  property  of  society,  and  constitutes 
the  basis  of  its  strength  and  happiness ;— it  is  considered  the 
peculiar  duty  of  a  free  government,  like  ours,  to  encourage 
and  extend  the  improvement  and  cultivation  of  the  intellect- 
ual energies  of  the  whole.  Therefore,'" 

The  free  school  law  of  1825  was  unique  in  that,  at  that 
time,  there  were  only  a  few  states  in  the  East  that  had  a  free 


»Sess.  Laws,  1825,  p.  121. 


98 

school  law.  The  essential  features  of  the  law  provided  that 
a  school  system  was  to  be  established  by  law ;  that  the  school 
was  to  be  free  to  all  children  between  certain  ages,  and  that 
all  expenses  for  the  schools  thus  established  should  be  met 
by  a  general  tax  upon  property : 

"Sec.  1 — Be  it  enacted  by  the  people  of  the  State  of  Illi- 
nois represented  in  the  General  Assembly,  That  there  shall 
be  established  a  common  school  or  schools  in  each  of  the 
counties  of  this  state,  which  shall  be  open  and  free  to  every 
class  of  white  citizens  between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty- 
one  years:  Provided,  That  persons  over  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years,  may  be  admitted  into  such  schools,  on  such  terms 
as  the  trustees  of  the  school  may  prescribe     *     *     *." 

''Sec.  15 — Be  it  further  enacted.  That  for  the  encourage- 
ment and  support  of  schools,  respectively  established  within 
this  state,  according  to  this  act,  there  shall  be  appropriated, 
for  that  purpose,  two  dollars  out  of  every  hundred  thereafter 
to  be  received  in  the  treasury  of  this  state ;  also,  five-sixths 
of  the  interest  arising  from  the  school  fund ;  which  shall  be 
divided  annually  between  the  different  counties  of  this  state, 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  white  inhabitants  in  each 
county,  under  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  after  the  next 
census  shall  be  taken;  until  which  time  no  dividend  shall 
be  taken.  "- 

_  Finally,  school  districts  were  to  be  incorporated  by  the 
action  of  the  county  commissioners'  courts,  upon  a  petition  of 
a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of  any  settlement.  The 
voters  in  each  district,  by  a  majority  of  the  votes,  could  levy 
a  tax  not  exceeding  one-half  per  centum  on  property,  and  ap- 
point trustees  and  other  officers  to  manage  the  system.  Since 
the  origin  of  the-  bill  is  a  disputed  question  in  Illinois  educa- 
tion, an  examination  of  the  evidence  is  pertinent.  The  author, 
ship  of  the  free  school  law  was  generally  attributed  to  General 
Duncan,  a  member  of  the  Senate  from  Madison  county,  after- 
wards elected  to  Congress  and  the  governorship  of  the  state, 
who  introduced  it  in  the  upper  branch  of  the  legislature.^ 
"Whether  or  not  he  was  the  author  has  been  difficult  to  de- 
termine. At  least,  he  was  its  ardent  supporter  in  and  out  of 
the  legislature,  but  he  evaded  the  issue  when  asked  by  a 

*Sess.  Laws,  1825.  pp.  121-25. 
•Sen.  Jr.,  1824-25,  p.  220. 


99 

political  opponent  at  home  if  he  were  not  the  author  of  the 
free  school  system  which  taxed  the  rich  for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor.  Duncan  acknowledged  that  he  had  introduced  the  bill, 
and  had  supported  it  with  uncommon  zeal,  in  the  belief  that 
it  would  be  found  beneficial  to  the  state,  but  he  did  not  say 
that  he  had  formulated  its  principles." 

Governor  Coles  was  an  enthusiastic  advocate,  if  not  the 
author,  of  the  bill.  Coles  was  having  a  bitter  personal  and 
political  fight  over  slavery.  Southern  sympathizers  sued  him 
for  liberating  the  slaves  that  he  had  brought  to  Illinois  from 
Virginia.  The  basis  for  the  damage  claim  was  that  other 
slave  owners  would  be  influenced  to  do  likewise.  Coles  was 
burned  in  effigy  in  many  towns  of  southern  Illinois  on  account 
of  his  powerful  anti-slavery  influence.  Hence,  it  seems  likely 
that  General  Duncan,  a  long-time  resident  of  the  state  as  well 
as  a  successful  Indian  fighter,  was  put  forward  to  introduce 
the  bill  with  the  least  likelihood  of  opposition. 

Moreover,  Governor  Coles  was  the  type  of  man  from 
whom  such  a  bill  was  most  likely  to  eminate.  He  was  a  Vir- 
ginian of  the  aristocracy,  the  secretary  to  James  Madison,  a 
special  ambassador  to  Russia,  and  personally  acquainted  with 
the  leading  statesmen  of  his  day.  Several  letters  were  ex- 
changed between  Coles  and  Jefferson,  who  were  personal  ac- 
quaintances, on  the  subjects  of  slavery  and  education.  To  free 
his  slaves,  Coles  went  to  Illinois.  But  he  also  had  m  mmd 
Jefferson's  ideals  of  raising  the  lot  of  the  common  white  man. 

In  Governor  Coles'  paper,  just  after  the  free  school  law 
was  passed,  appeared  a  great  deal  of  material  on  the  subject 
of  free  education.  The  purpose  of  those  writings  was  evi- 
dently in  support  of  the  establishment  of  an  educational  sys- 
tem for  the  poor  man.  The  first  article  worthy  of  notice  was  an 
excerpt  from  the  fourth  annual  report  of  the  acting  super- 
intendent of  the  common  schools  in  the  state  of  New  York. 
It  showed  the  legislature  of  that  state  how  much  money  was 
paid  out  of  the  state  treasury,  how  much  was  raised  from  the 
local  school  fund,  and  how  much  was  raised  by  tax,  all  for  the 
common  schools.  How  many  children  were  being  taught,  and 
how  much  money  was  being  appropriated,  showed  the  impor- 

^  Spectator,  May  27,  1826. 


100 

tance  of  the  common  school  system  and  the  wisdom  and  mag- 
nanimity of  the  legislature.^ 

That  article  was  valuable  data  in  showing  the  same  prin- 
ciples of  support  for  public  education  in  operation  in  New 
York,  the  same  principles  having  been  established  by  the  law 
of  1825. 

The  next  article,  on  the  ignorance  of  the  peasantry  of 
France,  should  be  interpreted  as  showing  the  necessity  for 
free  common  education,  before  republican  liberty  and  the 
elective  franchise  could  mean  anything  to  the  people  of 
Illinois. 

' '  The  Peasantry  of  France  are  extremely  ignorant.  Whole 
villages  may  be  found,  where  not  more  than  three  or  four  can 
read.  Even  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Paris,  and  within  the 
echoes  of  the  legislative  debates,  there  are  towns  in  which 
not  three  newspapers  are  taken,  and  those  not  by  persons  who 
actually  belong  to  the  people.  The  eloquent  pleas  for  liberty 
are  of  no  effect,  for  they  are  not  heard  by  the  mass  of  the 
nation.  Hence  no  general  political  spirit  exists,  except  when 
the  popularity  of  individuals  is  concerned,  or  as  taxes  of  the 
state  affect  private  interest,  and  national  attention  can  hardly 
be  directed  to  refined  questions  on  the  management  of  the 
elections  and  the  free  expression  of  opinion.  So  great  is  the 
popular  ignorance,  that  the  most  liberal  policies  have  even 
advocated  the  very  wide  extension  of  the  elective  franchise, 
believing  it  to  be  first  necessary  to  educate  the  nation. '  "^ 

Finally,  a  long  third  article  was  the  statement  of  Thomas 
Jefferson's  plan  for  a  system  of  education.  Since  it  eminated 
from  "the  greatest  sage  and  most  philanthropic  statesman  of 
the  age,"  so  the  introduction  said,  the  plan  was  worthy  of 
consideration  by  the  people  of  Illinois. 

Judging  from  Coles'  messages  to  the  legislature,  and  his 
publication  of  Jefferson's  plan  for  the  establishment  of  a 
complete  system  of  education  through  the  university,  it  was 
probable  that  Coles  planned  for  a  similar  system  in  Illinois. 
The  first  step  was  the  creation  of  the  free  school  system, 
which,  of  course,  was  the  common  school.  The  supervisory 
power  of  the  primary  schools  should  rest  with  the  college,  a 
secondary  institution  with  jurisdiction  over  a  territory  of 

"Tntelligencer,  March  4,  1825. 
•Intelligencer,  March  4,  1825. 


101 

about  eighty  miles  square.  All  of  the  colleges  of  the  state 
should  be  controlled  by  a  single  university,  as  the  administra- 
tive authority,  and  providing  the  highest  scientific  and 
literary  opportunities.  Jefferson's  ideas  of  a  university  were 
similar  to  the  French  organization  of  higher  education.*  How- 
ever, Jefferson  argued  for  a  free  system  of  common  schools, 
the  support  of  which  was  to  come  from  those  who  were  able 
to  pay  a  tax : 

''And  will  the  wealthy  individual  have  no  retribution? 
And  what  will  this  be?  1.  The  peopling  his  neighborhood 
with  honest,  useful  and  enlightened  citizens,  understanding 
their  own  rights  and  firm  in  their  perpetuation ;  2.  When  his 
own  descendants  became  poor,  which  they  generally  do  within 
three  generations,  (no  law  of  primogeniture  now  perpetuating 
wealth  in  the  same  families)  their  children  will  be  educated 
by  the  then  rich,  and  the  little  advance  he  now  makes,  while 
rich  himself  will  be  repaid  by  the  then  rich,  to  his  descendants 
when  they  become  poor,  and  thus  give  them  a  chance  of  rising 
again.  This  is  a  solid  consideration  and  should  go  down  to 
the  bosom  of  every  parent.  This  will  be  a  seed  sowed  in  fer- 
tile ground.  It  is  a  provision  for  his  family,  looking  to  distant 
times,  and  far  beyond  what  he  now  has  in  hand  for  them. 
Let  every  man  count  backward  before  he  comes  to  the  ancestor 
who  made  the  fortune  he  now  holds ;  most  will  be  stopped  at 
the  first  generation,  many  at  the  second,  a  few  will  reach  the 
third,  and  not  one  in  the  state  go  beyond  the  fifth  *  *  * 
Where  is  the  man  whose  heart  is  so  cold  as  not  to  grow  warm 
at  the  recital  of  youths  like  these?"  ^ 

Only  little  evidence  has  come  to  light  to  show  whether 
any  free  school  districts  were  ever  established.  Certainly, 
there  are  no  published  records  of  the  treasurer  showing 
that  any  money  was  appropriated  out  of  the  state  funds  for 
the  support  of  free  schools  in  any  district  under  the  law  of 
1825.  There  might  have  been,  however,  quite  a  few  districts 
established  for  a  short  time,  and  then  abandoned.  Governor 
Ford,  in  his  history  of  Illinois,  stated  that  the  law  worked 
well  and  then  contradicted  himself  by  saying  that  there  was 
much  opposition  to  it.     The  Sangamo  Journal,  February  9, 

•  The  main  difference  is  that  Jefferson's  ideas  antedated  the  French  ideas  by  25 
years. 

'Intelligencer,  March  11,  1825. 


102 

1832,  said  that  it  was  not  known  that  society  ever  received 
any  benefits  whatever  from  the  plan  adopted  in  1825,  which 
was  not  approved  by  the  people.  A  little  later,  the  same  paper 
made  a  similar  statement  about  this  law:  ''On  the  15th  of 
January,  1825,  an  act  was  passed  to  provide  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  free  schools.  This  act  was  accompanied  with  a 
very  complaisant  and  graceful  introduction,  but  the  free 
schools  were  to  be  sustained  only  by  a  tax  levied  upon  the 
district  and  disbursed  by  six  or  eight  officers.  The  prac- 
ticability of  this  plan,  I  think,  has  never  been  tested,  and,  I 
would  suppose,  for  very  good  reasons."* 

Pushing  the  search  for  evidence  further,  one  was  induced 
to  investigate  some  of  the  very  few  surviving  county  commis- 
sioner court  records  of  that  time.  For  the  law  provided  that, 
on  petition  of  a  majority  of  the  legal  voters  of  the  county  to 
the  above  named  court,  a  free  school  district  should  be  laid 
out,  and  a  tax  levied  for  the  support  of  education  in  that  dis- 
trict. If  such  districts  had  been  established,  the  record  of 
their  creation  would  probably  have  been  entered  in  the  court 
journal. 

On  examination,  the  court  journal  of  Madison  county  for 
1825,  showed  that  five  free  school  districts  had  been  estab- 
lished in  the  county.  Also,  the  same  record  provided  for  the 
taking  of  the  census  in  the  county  as  provided  by  the  free 
school  law  in  order  to  determine  the  amount  of  appropriation 
to  be  made  by  the  state  to  Madison  county. 

The  free  districts  established  in  Madison  county  were 
Alton,  Edwardsville,  Ebeneezer,  Silver  Creek,  and  Wood 
River.  The  record  defined  the  boundaries  of  the  districts 
following  the  petitions  of  people  in  those  districts.  The  court 
orders  of  which  the  Alton  district  was  an  example,  were  put 
in  these  words :  "A  petition  this  day  filed  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  free  schools  in  pursuance  of  an  act  of  the  general 
assembly,  approved  Jan.  15,  1825,  it  is  therefore  ordered  that 
a  school  district  be  established  to  be  called  and  known  by  the 
name  of  the  Alton  District  containing  the  following  limits, 
viz. :  To  commence  on  the  Mississippi  River  at  the  mouth  of 
Wood  River  and  to  run  up  the  latter  river,  to  where  the  sec- 
tional line  between  fractional  sections  18  and  19  in  Town  5 


•Sang.  Jr.,  Dec.  14.  1833. 


103 

North,  in  Eange  9  West  of  the  third  principle  meridian  inter- 
sects it ;  thence  East  on  the  said  sectional  line  to  the  sectional 
line  between  sections  16  and  17  of  Town  aforesaid;  thence 
North  on  said  line  to  the  North  boundary  of  said  Town; 
thence  West  on  said  boundary  line  to  the  Mississippi  River, 
and  thence  down  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning.  Ordered 
by  County  Commissioner  Court  at  Edwardsville." ' 

The  creation  of  those  school  districts,  however,  does  not 
prove  that  schools  were  actually  in  operation  in  these  dis- 
tricts and  the  establishment  of  free  schools  in  them,  should  be 
had  for  all  the  older  counties,  but  only  a  very  few  records 
have  been  preserved.  The  attitude  of  the  people  of  the  coun- 
ties on  public  laws  and  questions  of  the  day  was  expressed 
and  registered  in  the  court  proceedings.  Petitions  and  opin- 
ions of  opposition  on  nearly  every  subject  imaginable  were 
inserted  in  the  county  record'^s.  Evidently,  at  least  in  Madison 
county,  there  was  little  opposition  to  the  law  of  1825  because 
not  one  objection  to  it  was  raised  in  these  records. 

Moreover,  the  newspapers  published  at  Edwardsville  had 
practically  no  opposition  to  the  creation  of  free  school  dis- 
tricts and  the  law  of  1825.  At  about  the  same  time,  as  the 
establishing  of  the  free  school  district,  a  parent  expressed  the 
hope  that  schools  would  soon  be  in  operation:  "It  has  be- 
come fashionable  of  late  to  declaim  on  the  advantages  of 
education.  Every  one  who  wishes  to  be  thought  a  patriot,  a 
good  citizen,  or  a  man  of  sense,  talks  loudly  of  the  importance 
of  a  system  of  general  education,  as  a  grand  means  of  perpetu- 
ating our  civil  liberties,  and  improving  our  moral  condition." 

"Now,  I  have  no  disposition  to  check  the  ardor  of  these 
patriotic  orators  and  writers ;  only,  I  wish  it  may  not  end  in 
declamation.  Our  children  will  gain  but  little  useful  knowl- 
edge from  most  eloquent  harangues  in  favor  of  schools  if 
there  be  no  schools  established.  It  were  a  thousand  piUes 
that  so  many  fine  productions  should  be  lost  to  posterity; 
that  the  authors  should  receive  none  of  that  posthumous  re- 
ward, the  applause  and  gratitude  if  succeeding  generations 
could  not  read  them.'""  The  writer  continued  to  say  that 
the  tax  was  not  sufficient  to  provide  all  the  advantages  de- 
sired for  a  free  education. 

•Madison  Co.  Court  Rec.  1825,  June  Term,  p.  152. 
"Spectator,  July  30,  1825. 


104 

Another  writer  in  the  same  paper  expressed  a  favorable, 
though  somewhat  different  point  of  view :  ' '  That  we  consider 
the  late  law  of  our  state  on  the  subject  of  education,  on  the 
whole,  adapted  to  our  wants ;  and,  we  must  add,  honorable  to 
the  head  and  heart  of  its  author."  "We  have  some  objections 
to  its  details,  and  so  we  might,  possibly  to  the  details  of  any 
plan.'"^ 

Again,  a  writer  in  the  Spectator,  found  the  law  a  means 
of  getting  the  proper  kind  of  teachers,  the  right  kind  of  in- 
spection for  schools,  longer  terms,  less  expense  and  a  means 
by  which,  through  experience,  the  people  could  tell  whether 
the  law  was  satisfactory:  ''By  the  aid  of  the  School  Fund, 
arising  from  the  sale  of  land,  with  the  trifling  tax  on  prop- 
erty, and  voluntary  contributions,  we  could  offer  better  in- 
ducements to  competent  teachers,  who  might  thereby  be  in- 
duced to  devote  their  time  and  talent  to  the  arduous  task." 

"Schools  established  under  the  provision  of  the  law 
would  be  subject  to  inspection  of  a  body  of  men  selected  by 
the  people  of  each  district,  whose  duty  it  would  be  to  watch 
over  both  pupils  and  teacher,  and  know  the  progress  of  the 
school  in  learning.  They  would  be  permanent,  and  liable  to 
fewer  and  shorter  vacations — so  discouraging  and  injurious 
to  children." 

"The  expense  to  individuals  would  eventually,  if  not 
at  first,  be  considerably  less  than  the  present  loose  and  in- 
efficacious method,  and  would  gradually  diminish  as  the 
school  increases.  Lastly,  the  plan,  if  adopted,  would  be 
tested.  The  citizens  would  then  be  able  to  judge  from  exper- 
ience, and  either  amend  or  lay  it  aside,  as  they  should  find 
it  advisable.  "^- 

Evidently  the  experience  obtained  was  disastrous  to  the 
free  school  idea  because  the  legislature  (in  1827)  amended 
the  law  of  1825  so  that  one  could  be  taxed  only  by  his  own 
consent  for  the  support  of  schools: 

"Sec.  3 — The  legal  voters  of  any  school  district,  at  their 
regular  meetings,  shall  have  power  in  their  discretion,  to 
cause  either  the  whole  or  one-half  of  the  sum  required,  to 
support  a  school  in  such  a  district,  to  be  raised  by  taxation. 
And  if  only  one-half  be  raised  by  taxation,  the  remainder 

"Spectator,  Sept.  10.  182.'i. 
"Spectator,  Sept.  10,  1825. 


105 

may  be  required  to  be  paid  by  the  parents,  master,  and 
guardian,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  pupils  which  each 
of  them  shall  send  to  school." 

''Sec.  4 — No  person  shall  hereafter  be  taxed  for  the 
support  of  any  free  school  in  this  state,  unless  by  his  or  her 
own  free  will  and  consent,  first  had  and  obtained,  in  writing. 
And  any  person  so  agreeing  and  consenting,  shall  be  taxed 
in  the  manner  prescribed  in  the  act  to  which  this  is  an 
amendment. '  "^ 

However,  Peck  stated  that,  "many  good  primary  schools 
now  exist  without  a  legislative  sanction,  and  where  three  or 
four  of  the  leading  families  unite,  and  exert  their  influence 
in  favor  of  the  measure,  it  is  not  difQcult  to  have  a  good 
school."" 

Pro\dsion  existed  by  law,  nevertheless,  through  which 
the  people  of  a  locality  could  organize  themselves  into  school 
districts  and  might  tax  themselves  by  consent,  but  they  could 
receive  no  share  of  the  public  funds  under  the  control  of  the 
state  because  the  two  per  cent  clause  of  the  law  of  1825  had 
been  repealed  in  1829.  Upon  petition  from  the  inhabitants 
of  a  township,  the  sixteenth  section  could  be  sold,  the  pro- 
ceeds funded,  the  interest  from  which  could  be  used  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  common  school.  "To  some  extent,  the 
people  have  availed  themselves  of  this  provision  and  receive 
the  interest  of  the  fund."^^ 

The  distributive  share  of  the  common  school  fund  was 
never  sufficient  to  maintain  common  schools  in  any  county 
without  the  supplementation  of  tuition  fees.  When  a  teacher 
desired  employment,  he  drew  up  articles  of  agreement  by 
which  the  term  of  service  was  stated,  usually  for  not  more 
than  three  months,  and  the  rate  of  tuition  for  each  pupil.  If 
a  large  enough  number  of  subscribers  was  received  to  meet 
the  expected  compensation,  school  was  started;  if  not,  the 
teacher  went  to  other  school  districts  to  make  similar  experi- 
ments until  a  satisfactory  list  of  prospective  pupils  was  ob- 
tained.    The  following  is  a  typical  contract: 

"Articles  of  agreement,  draAvn  this  25th  of  May,  1833, 
between  Allen  Parlier,  of  the  county  of  Washington  and  the 


"Sess.  Laws,  1826-7,  p.  364. 
"Peck,  Gazetteer,  p.  83 
"  Ibid. 


106 

State  of  Illinois,  of  the  one  part,  and  we,  the  undersigned,  of 
said  county  and  State,  witnesseth,  that  the  said  Parlier  binds 
himself  to  teach  a  school  of  spelling,  reading,  writing  and  the 
foregoing  rules  of  arithmetic  for  the  term  of  three  months 
for  $2  per  scholar,  per  quarter;  said  Parlier  further  binds 
himself  to  keep  good  order  in  said  school,  will  teach  five  days 
in  each  week,  all  due  school  hours,  and  w^ll  make  up  lost 
time,  except  muster  days,  and  will  set  up  with  twenty 
scholars,  the  subscribers  to  furnish  a  comfortable  house,  with 
all  convenience  appertaining  thereto,  the  school  to  com- 
mence as  soon  as  the  house  is  fixed.  N.  B. — Wheat,  pork, 
hogs,  beeswax,  tallow,  deer  skins,  wool  and  young  cattle,  all 
of  which  will  be  taken  at  the  market  price  delivered  at  my 
house,  at  the  expiration  of  said  school,  day  and  date  above 
written. 

Subscribers'  names.  Allen  Parlier."^** 

It  was  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule,  that  districts 
and  towns  voted  to  tax  themselves  for  the  support  of  elemen- 
tary education  during  the  time  between  the  annullment  of 
the  law  of  1825  and  the  passage  of  the  free  school  law  in 
!!855.  Tuition  remained  the  practice  to  the  latter  date.  The 
Prairie  Farmer,  in  1852,  said  that  it  was  customary  to  employ 
male  teachers  in  the  winter  and  females  in  the  summer. 
* 'Males'  get  two  dollars  per  scholar,  females,  one  dollar  and 
a  half  per  week.'"^  In  the  settlement  of  an  estate,  recorded 
in  the  probate  documents  of  Shelby  county  for  1844,  a  charge 
of  $22.50  was  allowed  for  the  schooling  of  three  children  for 
three  years  at  the  rate  of  $2.50  each,  per  year.^^ 

Another  record  contained  this  evidence  on  the  same 
question:  ''On  this  10th  day  of  January,  1848,  came  Patrena 
Earp  guardian  for  the  heirs  of  Josiah  Porthman  dec.  and 
made  following  settlement  to  wdt — credit  for  the  year  1844 
for  schooling,  $16.00.  Credit  for  the  year  1845  for  schooling, 
$2.50  each— $7.50.  Credit  for  the  year  1846  for  schooling, 
$1.50  each— $4.50.    Credit  for  the  year  1847   at  $2  each— 

To  insure  the  permanence  of  free  institutions  in  Illinois, 
enlightenment  of  the  youth  of  the  state  was  thought  neces- 


"  state  Supt.  Rep..   1883-4.  p.   104. 
"Prairie  Farmer,  April  12,   18.52.  p.   17.5. 
"Shelby  County  Probate  Rec.  1839-1849,  p.  152. 


107 

sary  by  means  of  a  system  of  free  common  schools.  The  law 
of  1825  provided  that  a  school  system  should  be  established, 
that  the  schools  should  be  free  to  all  children,  and  that  the 
schools  thus  established  should  be  supported  by  two  per  cent 
of  all  the  yearly  revenues  due  the  state  and  by  a  local,  general 
property  tax.  Governor  Coles  was  probably  the  author  of 
the  law  rather  than  Senator  Duncan  and  drew  his  ideas  for 
a  complete  system  of  education  of  primary,  secondary  and 
university  instruction  from  Thomas  Jefferson's  scheme,  with 
which  Coles  was  thoroughly  familiar.  The  first  concern  was 
with  primary  instruction  which  the  law  of  1825  made  possi- 
ble. Five  free  school  districts  were  created  in  Madison 
county  within  a  few  months  after  the  passage  of  the  bill.  No 
complaint,  however,  was  made  against  the  law  in  the  Ed- 
wardsville  paper,  or  in  the  county  court,  but  other  counties 
must  have  been  opposed  to  free  schools,  because  the  legisla- 
ture repealed  the  public  tax  feature  two  years  later  and  the 
two  per  cent  clause  in  1829.  From  this  time  to  the  passage 
of  the  free  school  law  of  1855,  common  schools  were  sup- 
ported largely  by  tuition  paid  by  the  parents.* 

The  friends  of  the  common  school  and  the  educational 
leaders  in  the  state  began  immediately  to  try  to  put  it  on  a 
firm  basis;  an  educational  survey  of  the  state  was  made, 
which  resulted  in  a  memorial  to  the  legislature  and  an  ad- 
dress to  the  people  for  the  creation  of  free  common  schools 
and  the  establishment  of  county  seminaries  for  the  training 
of  teachers.  These  features  are  developed  in  the  next 
chapter. 

*  The  following  section  of  the   school  law   of   1845   shows  that  tuition   charges 
were  legal :     "Provided,  that  the  expenses  of  such  fuel  and  furniture  as  aforesaid 
shall  be  apportioned  among  the  scholars  according  to  the  number  of  days  taught, 
and   collected  with   tuition   fees   from   the  parents   or   guardians   of   such   children. 
Sess.  Laws,   1845,  p.   65,   Sec.   61. 


108 


CHAPTER  IX. 


The  Movement  of  1835. 

The  efforts  for  the  inauguration  of  a  common  school  sys- 
tem in  the  State  did  not  die  out  with  the  virtual  repeal  of  the 
school  law  of  1825.  Political  speakers,  the  State  over,  in  their 
campaign  for  election,  never  failed  to  mention  their  ideas 
upon  the  education  of  the  people.  Col.  Ewing,  Speaker  of  the 
lower  house  of  the  legislature,  and  Abraham  Lincoln  were  ex- 
amples of  campaigners  who  addressed  their  constituents  on 
the  value  of  education  as  the  means  of  perpetuating  free  in- 
stitutions. 

The  former  said:  ''This  is  a  subject,  however,  of  more 
vital  importance  to  society  than  any  other.  Its  utility  can 
not  be  properly  estimated,  without  going  too  elaborately  into 
its  discussion.  But  there  is  a  spirit  abroad  in  many  portions 
of  this  Union,  whose  purpose  is  devoted  to  the  general  educa- 
tion of  the  youth  of  the  country,  and  the  establishment  of  a 
system  of  schools,  which  will  insure  this  grand  purpose 
through  all  future  time.  The  honest  man,  and  the  friend  of 
his  country,  are  looking  to  a  system  of  schools  and  colleges 
for  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge  as  the  only  remedy  for 
many  existing  evils  in  the  body  politic.  I  know  no  measure 
of  its  importance.  It  affords  the  surest  guaranty  against  the 
arts  of  the  ambitious,  and  the  madness  of  party.  Either  in- 
telligence must  be  generally  diffused,  or  all  we  hold  dear  must 
be  exposed  to  shipwreck  for  the  mistakes  of  misguided  judg- 
ment, or  the  deleterious  influence  of  maddening  and  factious 
declamation  of  reckless  demagogues,  who  live  in  popular 
commotion,  and  whose  object  is  personal  aggrandizement."^ 

The  latter  said:  ''Fellow  Citizens:  Having  become  a 
candidate  for  the  honorable  office  of  one  of  your  Representa- 
tives in  the  next  General  Assembly  of  this  State,  in  accord- 
ance with  an  established  custom  and  the  principles  of  true 

1  111.  Mag.,  V.  1,  p.  383. 


109 

republicanism,  it  becomes  my  duty  to  make  known  to  you — 
the  people  whom  I  propose  to  represent — my  sentiments  with 
regard  to  local  affairs.  *  *  *  '<Upon  the  subject  of  edu- 
cation, not  presuming  to  dictate  any  plan  or  system  respect- 
ing it,  I  can  only  say  that  I  view  it  as  the  most  important  sub- 
ject which  we  as  a  people  can  be  engaged  in.  That  every  man 
may  receive  at  least  a  moderate  education,  and  thereby  be 
enabled  to  read  the  histories  of  his  own  and  other  countries, 
by  which  he  may  duly  appreciate  the  value  of  our  free  insti- 
tutions, appears  to  be  an  object  of  vital  importance,  even  on 
this  account  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  the  advantages  and 
satisfaction  to  be  derived  from  all  being  able  to  read  the 
scriptures  and  other  works,  both  of  a  religious  and  moral  na- 
ture, for  themselves.  For  my  part  I  desire  to  see  the  time 
when  education,  and  by  its  means,  morality,  sobriety,  enter- 
prise and  industry,  shall  become  much  more  general  than  at 
present,  and  should  be  gratified  to  have  it  in  my  power  to 
contribute  something,  to  the  advancement  of  any  measure 
which  might  have  a  tendency  to  accelerate  the  happy 
period."^ 

Indeed,  the  necessity  for  the  education  of  the  children  of 
the  State  was  pressing.  Immigrants  were  coming  by  the 
thousands;  the  eyes  of  the  East  were  turned  toward  the  West. 
Should  the  State  grow  up  in  lawless  barbarism,  due  to  ignor- 
ance, or  should  it  become  enlightened  through  the  schools? 
All  were  agreed  that  a  common  school  education  was  needed, 
but  how  to  get  a  system  for  that  purpose  was  unsettled. 
Judge  Hall  summed  up  the  situation  thus :  ' '  Common  schools 
have  increased  a  little  in  number,  though  not  much  perhaps 
in  character.  The  defect  exists  altogether  in  the  want  of 
some  general  system.  Education  is  decidedly  popular,  and 
all  classes  were  willing  to  contribute  to  the  introduction  and 
support  of  schools.  But  how  to  obtain  the  desired  object,  is  a 
question  upon  which  there  is  as  yet  no  settled  opinion. '  '^ 

Hall  concluded  by  saying  that  a  local,  individual  school 
system  was  practically  valueless.  A  state  system  should  re- 
place it.  "A  common  school  may  enlighten  to  some  extent  a 
little  neighborhood;  but  in  order  to  disseminate  intelligence 
throughout  the  whole  mass  of  people,  to   elevate  national 

2  Sang.  Jr..  March  15,  1832.     A  Lincoln, 
sill.  Month.  Mag.,  Dec.   1831,   p.   102. 


110 

character,  and  to  develop  the  mental  resources  of  the  whole 
country,  there  must  be  a  union  of  action  among  the  friends  of 
education.  Our  politicians  must  become  deeply  imbued  with 
a  sense  of  the  importance  of  the  subject;  and  our  professional, 
literary,  and  scientific  men  must  come  out  from  the  retire- 
ment of  their  closets,  and  the  enthralments  of  their  private 
avocations  and  labor  for  the  public.  The  subject  needs  to  be 
stripped  of  many  theories  that  disfigure  it,  or  give  it  a 
shadowy  existence  in  the  eyes  of  practical  men;  and  to  have 
its  realities  presented  in  their  naked  truth,  and  vigor,  and 
beauty.  The  clouds  of  prejudice,  which  envelope  it,  ought  to 
be  dispelled,  prejudices  which  relate  to  forms,  to  systems,  to 
men,  and  to  sects,  and  not  as  we  sincerely  believe,  to  subject 
matter.  Every  rational  man  desires  knowledge,  and  wishes 
to  see  his  children  elevated  in  the  scale  of  human  beings.  The 
objections  are  to  means,  the  agents,  and  the  manner  of  in. 
struction. '  '* 

The  education  of  the  children  of  Illinois  was,  moreover, 
a  national  affair.  Mr.  Gatewood,  who  championed  the  bill  of 
1835,  in  his  address  to  the  senate,  said  that  the  scepter  that 
ruled  the  country  would  pass  from  the  East  to  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi.  Therefore,  the  education  of  the  children  was 
primary. 

''The  time  is  not  far  distant,  and  many,  who  are  now 
active  upon  the  stage,  may  yet  live  to  see  the  day,  when  a 
majority  of  the  people  comprising  these  United  States  will 
reside  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The  scepter  must 
soon  pass  over  the  AUeghanies,  never  again  to  return.  The 
North,  the  East,  and  the  South  must  soon,  in  a  political  point 
of  view,  be  tributary  to  the  "West.  The  Land  of  the  Puritans, 
the  Empire  State,  the  Old  Dominion,  and  all,  with  their  an- 
cient institutions,  their  laurels,  their  heroes  and  their  states- 
men, big  as  they  are  with  the  praises  of  other  days,  must  in  a 
short  time  do  homage  to  the  great  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  liberties  of  all  America  must  be  committed  to  the  people 
of  this  valley  for  safe-keeping  and  preservation.  The  pre- 
servation of  these  liberties  must  depend  upon  the  virtue  and 
intelligence  of  the  people  of  the  West;  must  depend  upon  the 
very  children,  one-third  of  whom,  are  now  destitute  of  the 

*I11.  Month.  Mag.,  v.   1,  p.   273. 


Ill 

means  of  instruction  and  growing  up  in  ignorance.  *  *  * 
The  subject  of  education  in  the  West  then  must  be — it  is  a 
subject  of  deep  and  anxious  solicitude. '  '^ 

The  time  was  ripe  for  the  statesmen  of  the  day  to  make 
plans  for  the  creation  by  law  of  a  common  school  system,  ac- 
ceptable to  the  people.  Judge  Hall,  the  foremost  literary 
writer  of  the  State,  was  invited  to  address  the  people  in  Van- 
dalia  on  the  subject  of  education.  This  opportunity  was  seized 
to  organize,  in  1833,  ''The  Illinois  Institute  of  Education," 
the  purpose  of  which,  as  stated  in  the  constitution  of  the  so- 
ciety, ''shall  be  the  advancement  of  education  in  Illinois, 
especially  in  the  common  schools." 

After  re-affirming  the  belief  in  the  value  of  education  as 
the  savior  of  republican  institutions,  the  association  decided 
on  three  lines  of  action: 

"1.  Information  can  be  obtained  from  every  county  in 
the  State  of  the  numbers  and  condition  of  primary  schools, 
the  time  for  which  they  are  taught  in  a  year,  the  average 
number  of  scholars  that  attend,  the  branches  taught,  the 
books  received,  and  the  mode  of  instruction  pursued,  the  cost 
for  each  school,  or  even  for  each  scholar,  the  probable  number 
of  children  who  ought  to  receive  aid  from  public  funds,  and 
many  other  particulars  relative  to  the  present  condition  of 
the  primary  schools  of  this  State. ' ' 

"2.  Correspondence  with  public  institutions  and  in- 
dividuals in  other  states  would  furnish  legislative  documents 
relative  to  school  statistics,  plans  of  operation,  application  of 
public  funds,  qualifications  of  teachers,  and  the  branches 
taught  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  the  various  results  of 
public  and  private  munificence,  and  many  other  facts." 

' '  3.  Through  the  channels  of  the  press,  and  by  public  ad- 
dresses, information  may  be  thro\vn  before  the  public. '  '^ 

The  literature  of  the  time  carried  this  notice  and  these 
questions  relative  to  the  first  plan  of  the  association  in  which 
a  survey  of  the  primary  educational  status  of  the  State  was 
to  be  made: 

"Friends  of  education,  teachers  and  preachers  of  the 
gospel  throughout  the  State  are  requested  to  correspond  with 

^  Sen.  Rep.  on  Educ,  Doc.  No.   8,  p.  8. 
estate  Supt.  Rep.,   1885-6,  p,   110. 


112 

John  Russell,  Esq.,  Postmaster,  Bluff  dale,  Greene  County,  and 
to  furnish  such  information  as  may  be  in  their  power  on  the 
topics  involved  in  the  following  questions.  The  information 
of  ladies  as  well  as  gentlemen  is  requested.  And  gentlemen 
out  of  the  State  are  solicited  to  furnish  the  Institute  with 
such  facts  and  documents  as  may  be  needed,  to  be  addressed 
to  J.  M.  Peck,  Postmaster,  Rock  Spring,  St.  Clair  County. 

1.  What  kind  of  a  schoolhouse  have  you?  2.  How  many 
months  in  a  year  is  school  taught?  3.  What  is  the  cost  of 
your  school  per  annum,  including  pay  of  teacher,  books,  fuel, 
and  repairs  of  schoolhouse?  4.  What  is  the  cost  per  scholar? 
5.  How  many  different  scholars  attend?  6.  What  is  the  aver- 
age number  of  scholars?  7.  How  many  children  need  aid 
from  public  funds.  8.  How  many  schools  in  the  county? 
9.  What  branches  are  taught  in  your  schools?  10.  What 
books  are  used  in  spelling?  In  reading?  In  arithmetic?  In 
geography?  In  grammar?  11.  Are  the  elements  of  natural 
history  taught?  12.  Does  your  teacher  lecture  the  scholars 
on  the  branches  of  science?  13.  Does  he  ask  questions  on 
every  reading  lesson?  14.  How  many  adults  in  your  settle- 
ment who  cannot  read?  15.  Have  you  a  public  library,  and 
if  so,  how  large,  and  under  what  regulations?  16.  Could  not 
a  small  library  of  useful  books  be  had  for  the  use  of  your 
school,  and  loaned  to  the  scholars  as  rewards  for  proficiency 
in  study,  and  good  behavior?  17.  Would  you  like  to  have  a 
good  teacher  permanently  settled  with  you,  and  would  the 
school  support  him?  18.  How  would  a  circuit  teacher  do  who 
should  conduct  four  or  five  schools,  visiting  them  once  a  week 
as  teachers  of  singing  do,  and  lecturing  and  explaining  the 
branches  taught?  19.  What  measures,  in  your  opinion,  or 
those  of  the  people  around  you  should  the  State  adopt  in  rela- 
tion to  school  funds?  20.  Can  you  get  up  meetings  of  the 
people  on  court  day,  or  any  other  convenient  time,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  education?  21.  Will  any  gentleman  make  public  ad- 
dresses, or  deliver  lectures  to  the  people  on  the  subject  of 
education  and  schools  ?  22.  What  proportions  of  the  families 
take  newspapers,  or  any  other  periodical?'" 

The  information  contained  in  these  questions  became  the 
subject  matter  for  the  second  meeting  of  the  Illinois  Institute, 

'State  Supt.  Rep.,   1885-6,  p.   111. 


113 

convened  in  December,  1834,  at  Vandalia,  at  the  same  time 
and  place  as  the  General  Assembly.  The  deliberations  of  the 
educational  convention  were  formulated  in  an  address  to  the 
people  of  Illinois,  and  in  a  memorial  to  the  legislature. 

^'A  well  devised  system  of  primary  schools  will  secure  to 
their  families  increased  prosperity  and  happiness  to  their 
country,  wealth,  glory  and  freedom."^  The  means  of  provid- 
ing common  free  education  were  stated  in  three  ways: 
1.  Massachusetts  had  a  policy  of  taxation  exclusively;  2.  Con- 
necticut had  the  interest  from  a  vested  fund;  3.  New  York 
had  the  combination  of  the  first  and  second  plan — a  tax  and 
the  interest  on  a  vested  fund.  These  three  plans  were  con- 
cretely described  and  the  position  of  Illinois  in  comparison 
was  found  most  favorable,  the  New  York  plan  being  recom- 
mended. 

But  the  whole  heart  of  the  system  to  be  established,  said 
the  address,  rested  on  the  teacher  who  must  be  trained  in 
special  schools.  ''One  of  the  great  defects  in  the  common 
schools  of  New  England  and  New  York  is  the  incompetency 
of  their  teachers.  *  *  *  A  child  under  competent  instruc- 
tion will  acquire  as  much  learning  in  three  years,  as  is  com- 
monly attained  in  six  under  existing  teaching,  and  hence,  it  is 
the  interest  of  the  people  to  employ  skillful  instructors. 
Would  you  trust  the  shoeing  of  your  horse  to  any  but  a  smith  f 
You  would  not.  Then  we  pray  you  by  your  parental  affec- 
tions, to  pause,  before  you  commit  the  education  of  your  in- 
fant and  immortal  children,  into  the  hands  of  men,  ignorant 
of  the  laws  of  physics,  and  totally  unused  in  the  operation  of 
the  human  intellect.  If  the  blacksmith  should  learn  his  trade,, 
surely  the  school  teacher  should  study  his  profession."^ 

The  Institute  recommended  to  the  legislature,  in  accord- 
ance with  those  ideas,  the  following  principles  to  be  estab- 
lished by  law:  1.  The  citizens  of  a  community  shall  elect 
their  trustees  and  teacher  and  a  majority  of  the  citizens  of  a 
district  may  petition  the  county  commissioner's  court  to  lay 
off  a  school  district.  2.  ''The  teacher  shall  be  required  to 
keep  a  schedule,  exhibiting  the  names  and  number  of  scholars, 
and  the  number  of  days  that  they  respectively  attend  school. 


»  state  Supt.  Rep..  1885-6,  p.   117. 
•State  Supt.  Rep.,   1885-6,  p.   119. 


114 

and  that  all  the  funds  distributed  by  the  laws  of  the  State  for 
payment  of  teachers'  wages,  be  apportioned  according  to  the 
whole  number  of  days  which  all  the  children  shall  have  at- 
tended school,  as  shall  appear  from  a  copy  of  said  schedule 
made  out  and  sworn  to  by  the  teacher,  and  approved  by  the 
trustees  of  the  school.'"*' 

3.  The  interest  of  the  college  and  seminaiy  fund  should 
be  loaned  to  the  common  school  fund,  but  preserving  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  former  for  future  use.  The  interests  of  the 
State  shall  be  better  served  by  sectional  seminaries  rather 
than  by  one  central  institution. 

4.  The  distribution  of  the  interest  from  the  school  fund 
shall  be  made  by  the  county  school  commissioner  of  each 
county  on  the  basis  of  population,  according  to  the  last 
census. 

5.  The  distributive  share  of  each  county  shall  be  used  for 
the  payment  of  teachers'  salaries. 

6.  ' '  The  State  shall  contribute  an  annual  sum  to  the  sup- 
port of  at  least  one  respectable  academy  in  each  county,  when 
the  people  thereof  shall  have  first  put  the  same  into  actual 
operation. '  '^^ 

7.  ''Before  any  part  of  the  money  in  the  hands  of  the 
school  commissioner  be  distributed  by  him  for  the  support  of 
the  teacher,  though  citizens  wishing  to  derive  the  benefits 
from  it  shall  first  erect  and  furnish  a  substantial  and  com- 
fortable schoolhouse,  agree  to  supply  the  same  with  necessary 
fuel,  and  engage  to  pay  at  least  one-half  of  the  wages  of  the 
teacher,  and  "shall  have  a  school  taught  at  least  three 
months."  ^^ 

The  result  of  the  recommendations  of  the  State  Teacher's 
Association  was  the  proposal  of  a  system  of  education,  made 
in  the  Senate,  Feb.  5,  1835,  for  a  uniform  system  of  common 
schools  and  county  seminaries  throughout  the  State. 

The  bill  of  1835  had  some  very  interesting  and  unique 
features,  among  which,  were  those  that  related  to  the  creation 
of  county  seminaries.  Those  institutions  were  to  be  organ- 
ized as  public  joint  stock  companies  which  have  been  de- 
scribed in  Chapter  III.    After  three  months  of  operation,  the 

"State  Supt.  Rep.  1885-6,  p.  121. 
"Ibid,  p.   121, 


115 

State  was  required  to  pay  annually  to  each  seminary  the  sum 
of  two  hundred  dollars.  In  turn,  the  State  required  those  who 
expected  to  teach  to  sign  a  contract  with  the  trustees  of  the 
seminary  to  teach  in  the  county  twice  as  long  as  the  term  re- 
quired for  qualification.  Moreover,  the  commissioner  of  the 
seminary  fund  was  authorized  to  pay  to  the  trustees  of  these 
academies,  the  tuition  of  all  persons  who  were  qualifying 
themselves  to  teach. 

Like  the  law  of  1825,  this  bill  made  common  schools  free 
to  all  white  children.  As  the  law  of  1825  was  repealed,  so  the 
unusual  provision  for  taxation  in  the  bill  of  1835  was  de- 
feated. The  State  was  unready  to  assume  the  burden  of  edu- 
cating its  children  and  training  its  teachers  free. 

New  York  was  still  paying  tuition  for  the  education  of 
its  common  school  children.  Pennsylvania  passed  a  free 
school  law  in  1834-5,  which  caused  a  great  deal  of  opposition 
in  the  legislature  and  in  the  State.  Ohio  and  Indiana  were 
struggling  along  with  no  common  school  system  provided. 
The  entire  country  still  had  some  vestiges  of  the  colonial  sys- 
tem of  apprenticeship  education. 

It  is  true,  that  nearly  twenty-five  years  passed  before  the 
establishment  of  a  normal  school  in  Illinois.  However,  in 
1835,  scarcely  a  teacher  training  institution  existed  in  the 
whole  country.  One  of  the  new  educational  doctrines  of  the 
day  was  the  professional  training  of  teachers.  Men  like 
Stowe,  who  had  gone  to  Europe  to  study  the  Prussian  school 
system,  advocated  teacher  training.  If  the  older  states  were 
unready  to  establish  normal  schools,  even  as  private  ventures, 
Illinois  should  not  be  censured  for  failing  to  adopt  that  part 
of  the  bill  providing  fpr  the  establishment  of  county  semi- 
naries. Those  institutions  would,  in  all  probability,  have 
been  doomed  to  failure. 

The  academies  already  organized,  both  public  and  pri- 
vate, did  the  best  they  could  to  educate  teachers  for  the  com- 
mon schools.  It  is  unlikely,  however,  that  any  academic  in- 
stitution provided  more  than  a  narrow  scholastic  education 
for  prospective  teachers,  although  the  charters  of  some  insti- 
tutions stated  that  the  qualification  of  teachers  was  one  of 
their  objects.  The  published  programs  of  studies  showed  no 
professional  subjects  in  the  academic  curricula.    A  thorough 


116 

preparation  in  reading,  writing,  spelling  and  arithmetic,  with 
an  attempted  mastery  of  the  classic  languages,  was  consid- 
ered sufficient  preparation  for  those  who  were  to  teach  in  the 
primary  schools. 

In  fact,  nearly  anyone  with  a  little  training  in  the  elemen- 
tary subjects  was  thought  capable  of  teaching.  Here  and 
there  was  an  occasional  objection  by  some  fairly  capable 
judge  to  the  work  of  teachers  in  the  common  schools.  Thus  a 
writer  in  the  Warsaw  Signal  believed  that  some  teachers 
were  careless,  indolent,  ignorant  and  without  the  least  desire 
to  find  out  what  was  expected  of  them.  "Teachers  are  frail 
mortals,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  us;  and  some  of  them,  I  may 
say  with  truth,  a  little  more  frail  than  their  employers.  I 
conceive  it  to  be  one  of  the  worst  evils  of  our  system,  that  it 
has  a  tendency  to  make  teachers  careless,  and  indolent;  and 
it  has  been  operating  so  long,  that  many  of  them  do  not  seem 
to  care  whether  they  do  their  duty  or  not;  and  any  number 
of  them  in  my  opinion,  do  not  even  go  to  the  trouble  of  in- 
quiring what  their  duty  is.  I  only  make  these  remarks  that 
they  may  do  good,  if  so  be  where  there  is  good  to  be  done, 
that  whosoever  the  shoe  pinches  may  wear  it.'"^ 

An  extremely  severe,  and  probably  just  indictment  of  the 
common  school  teacher  of  the  State  was  that  given  by  one  of 
its  educational  leaders.  The  first  common  school  journal  of 
Illinois,  published  in  1837,  had  but  one  year's  existence  be- 
cause the  teachers  were  unable  to  understand  its  methods  and 
because  of  the  little  interest  in  primary  education.  "We 
apprehend  there  is  not  sufficient  intelligence  among  the  mass 
of  teachers  in  the  State  to  appreciate  the  merits  of  such  a 
work,  nor  interest  enough  taken  by  parents  in  the  success  of 
common  schools,  or  in  the  education  of  their  children,  to  in- 
duce them  to  extend,  at  the  present  time,  an  adequate  support 
to  the  enterprise.'"^ 

From  our  point  of  view,  we  could  expect  little  of  teachers 
because  little  was  expected  of  them  by  the  people.  A  circuit 
teacher  was  surely  less  efficient  than  a  circuit  preacher.  Oc- 
casionally, a  circuit  teacher  had  as  many  as  three  schools  to 
teach,  as  well  as  supply  the  books.     However,  that  method 


1=  Warsaw  Signal,  Feb.   2,   1842. 
"111.  Hist.  Col.,  V.  6,  p.   63. 


117 

/had  its  adherents  who  stated  the  advantages  in  no  uncertain 
terms.  *' First.  Two  neighborhoods,  unable  to  support  a 
school  separately,  can,  by  uniting  with  each  other,  enjoy  all 
the  benefits  of  a  common  country  school. ' ' 

''Second.  One  teacher  can,  on  this  plan  accommodate 
two  settlements  at  the  same  time ;  and  this  is  no  small  advan- 
tage when  good  teachers  are  so  few  and  far  between." 

' '  Third.  By  reducing  the  cost  of  tuition  nearly  one-half, 
poor  people  who  have  large  families  can  give  them  such  an 
education  as  will  fit  them  for  occupying  a  respectable  station 
in  society." 

''Fourth.  Those  whose  children  are  large  enough  to  be 
of  service  to  them  either  on  the  farm  or  in  the  house,  can,  on 
this  plan,  have  them  at  home  nearly  half  the  time,  employed 
in  useful  occupations,  and  acquiring  steady  and  industrious 
habits,  without  which  the  health  of  the  body,  as  Avell  as  the 
health  of  the  mind,  is  destroyed."^* 

Another  picture  of  the  teacher  and  the  school,  as  well  as 
the  community,  emphasized  the  lack  of  schools,  the  meager 
education  provided,  the  insecurity  of  tenure  and  pay,  and 
consequently,  unqualified  teachers.  "During  the  early  history 
of  Illinois,  schools  were  almost  unknown  in  some  neighbor- 
hoods, and  in  the  most  favored  districts,  they  were  kept  up 
solely  by  subscription,  and  only  in  the  winter  season,  each 
subscriber  agreeing  to  pay  for  one  or  more  scholars,  or  stipu- 
lating to  pay  for  his  children  pro  rata  for  the  number  of  days 
they  should  be  in  attendance.  The  teacher  usually  drew  up 
articles  of  agreement,  which  stipulated  that  the  school  should 
commence  when  a  specified  number  of  scholars  should  be  sub- 
scribed, at  the  rate  of  $2,  $2.50,  or  $3  per  scholar  for  the  quar- 
ter. In  these  written  articles,  he  bound  himself  to  teach  spell- 
ing, reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  as  far  as  the  double  rule 
of  three.  Occasionally,  a  teacher  would  venture  to  include 
English  grammar.  But  in  the  earlier  years  of  my  youth,  I 
knew  of  no  teacher  who  attempted  to  give  instruction  in 
grammar  or  geography.  And  such  branches  of  history,  nat- 
ural philosophy,  or  astronomy,  were  not  thought  of.  Many 
parents  were  unwilling  that  their  children  should  study  arith- 
metic, contending  that  it  was  quite  unnecessary  for  farmers, 

"State  Supt.  Rep.,  1885-6,  p.  114. 


118 

and  what  was  the  use  of  grammar  to  a  person  who  could  talk 
so  as  to  be  understood  by  everybody?'"^ 

With  scarce  and  inefficient  schools,  with  little  or  no  legal 
requirements  for  certification,  and  with  no  adequate  pro- 
vision for  the  training  of  teachers,  went  low  salaries.  Some- 
times the  teacher  was  to  ''board  round,"  or  live  with  the 
patrons,  in  turn.  Tuition  for  each  pupil  was  charged,  varying 
in  amount  from  district  to  district,  but  it  was  used  chiefly  to 
pay  the  teacher.  Once  in  a  while,  a  widow  was  exempted 
from  her  share  of  the  payment  of  the  teacher's  wages  beyond 
her  part  of  the  common  school  fund.  The  law  of  1825  made  it 
legal  for  a  teacher  to  receive  produce  instead  of  money.^" 

Between  1844  and  1846,  the  highest  wage  for  men  ranged 
from  $17  to  $30  per  month;  the  lowest,  from  $6  to  $12,  the 
average  being  about  $15 ;  the  highest  wage  for  women  ranged 
from  $9  to  $17.56  per  month,  the  lowest,  from  $3  to  $6,  the 
average  being  about  $10."  No  statement  was  made  as  to 
whether  these  wages  were  exclusive  or  inclusive  of  board  and 
lodging.  In  some  instances,  it  is  known,  when  this  calcula- 
tion was  made  by  the  ex-officio  State  Superintendent,  that 
teachers  paid  their  own  board  and  lodging,  in  others,  they 
did  not. 

Illinois,  at  any  rate,  ranked  among  the  highest  states  in 
the  payment  of  teachers'  salaries  if  the  statistics  of  Horace 
Mann  in  the  Prairie  Farmer  in  1848  were  reliable :  ' '  Salaries 
of  teachers  per  month  exclusive  of  board  and  room: 

Maine     $15.40,  males,  $  4.80,  females 

New  Hampshire    13.50,  ''  5.65, 

Vermont    12.00,  "  4.75, 

New  York 14.96,  "  6.69, 

Pennsylvania    17.02,  ''  10.09, 

Ohio   15.42,  ''  8.73, 

Indiana    12.00,  *'  6.00, 

Massachusetts    24.51,  "  8.07, 

In  spite  of  the  continuous  reaffirmation,  by  political  can- 
didates for  office,  of  the  value  of  common  school  education, 
the  legislature  passed  few  laws  very  far  in  advance  of  the 

«  Patterson,  Early  Soc.  in  So.  111.,  in  Fer.  Hist.  Ser.,  No.  14,  p.  121. 
"  See  Contract  of  Allen  Parlier  in   Chap,  VIII, 
"Senate  and  House  Rep.,  1846,  p.  185. 
"Prairie  Farmer.  1848,  v.  8.  p.  222. 


119 

general  level  of  intelligence  of  the  people  in  the  State.  How- 
ever, attention  was  focused  on  desirable  laws  though  they 
were  to  be  enacted  in  the  future,  by  the  indefatigable  labor  of 
the  State  Educational  Association.  The  men  of  that  body,  at 
once  and  clearly,  saw  the  necessity  for  trained  teachers  to 
conduct  the  schools.  But  the  people  were  not  to  blame  for 
failing  to  see  the  value  of  an  entirely  new  educational  doc- 
trine, new,  even  to  the  older  states,  when  scarcely  any  system 
of  common  schools  was  in  operation.  The  low  salaries,  the  in- 
efficient teachers,  and  the  inadequate  schools,  were  partly  the 
product  of  a  frontier  civilization,  but  also  the  result  of  the 
low  educational  conditions  in  the  states  from  which  they 
emigrated. 


J  20 


CHAPTER  X. 


So7ne  Agencies  that  Aided  in  the  Development  and  the  Estab- 
ment  of  the  Common  School. 

The  common  school  system  of  Illinois,  when  the  perma- 
nent free  school  law  was  passed,  in  1855,  was  the  product  of 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  development.  In  consid- 
ering farther  the  internal  evolution  of  the  system  itself,  let 
us  examine  the  means  by  which  the  people  of  the  State  were 
taught  to  accept  the  principle  that  the  State  should  educate 
its  children.  In  general,  democracy  was  just  beginning  to 
grow,  and  becoming  conscious  of  its  power.  Humanitarian 
ideals,  doing  something  for  the  other  man's  children,  were  for 
the  first  time,  a  national  characteristic.  Though  the  period 
from  1830  to  1865  was  marked  by  many  abuses  in  educational 
practice,  the  mass  of  the  people  were  learning  for  the  first 
time  the  advantages  of  a  universal  system  of  free  common 
schools.  Illinois  had  many  agencies  which  contributed  to  the 
growth  of  that  ideal. 

Usually,  in  a  frontier  community,  moral  and  educational 
values  are  first  determined,  by  the  championship  of  individual 
leaders.  More  settled  life  develops  group  leadership,  not 
separate  from,  but  existing  along  with  prominent  leaders,  and 
institutions  emerge  with  their  own  ends  in  view.  Through  the 
influence  of  educational  leaders,  the  writings  of  newspapers 
and  magazines,  the  work  of  institutions  such  as  the  Sunday 
schools  and  public  libraries,  and  educational  conventions,  the 
development  of  the  free  school  was  hastened.  Our  next  con- 
sideration, therefore,  is  a  study  of  the  part  taken  by  these 
agencies. 

Educational  Leaders. 

Governors  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  in  the  period  we  are 
considering,  from  first  to  last,  took  the  lead  in  calling  the  at- 
tention of  the  general  assembly  to  the  necessity  for,  and  the 
needs  of  the  common  schools.     Governor  Bond,  the  first  in 


121 

office  after  the  State  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  in  1818, 
recommended  that  towTiship  trustees  lease  the  school  lands, 
using  the  rent  for  educational  purposes.  Besides,  a  certain  per 
centum  of  the  sales  of  all  public  lands  should  be  reserved  for 
the  use  of  schools,  both  of  which  incomes  would  be  sufficiently 
large  to  educate  the  children  of  the  state  to  the  remotest  per- 
iod of  time.  ^ 

We  have  described  the  activity  of  Grovernor  Coles  relative 
to  the  question  of  slavery  and  the  free  school  law  of  1825. 
With  the  many  other  recommendations  to  the  legislature,  Gov- 
ernor Coles  spoke  of  the  proper  preservation  of  the  public 
lands  in  the  State  as  a  means  for  the  education  of  future  gen- 
erations. "But,  from  the  present  super-abundance  of  lands, 
these  will  not  be  productive  of  much  revenue  for  many  years 
to  come ;  they  should,  however,  be  strictly  husbanded  as  a  rich 
source  from  which  to  supply  future  generations  with  the 
means  of  education."  (Now  followed  his  suggestions  which 
resulted  in  the  free  school  law  of  1825).  ''In  the  meantime, 
would  it  not  be  wise  to  make  legal  provision  to  assist  in  the 
support  of  local  schools'?"  ^ 

Whether  or  not  Coles  or  Duncan  wrote  the  law  of  1825, 
both  men  were  champions  of  the  common  schools.  The  latter, 
in  following  Coles  as  chief  executive,  continued  to  advise  the 
legislature  of  the  value  of  common  schools,  of  the  necessity 
for  the  adoption  of  some  scheme  of  government  support  for 
education,  and  of  the  wisdom  in  preserving  the  now  small  fund 
for  future  use.  ''As  every  country  is  prosperous  and  re- 
spected in  proportion  to  the  virtue  and  intelligence  of  its 
inhabitants,  the  subject  of  education  will  doubtless  again 
form  an  important  part  of  your  deliberations.  It  becomes  us 
to  use  every  exertion  in  our  power  to  instruct  those  who  are 
immediately  dependent  upon  us,  and  least  to  those  who  come 
after  us  the  rich  revenues  to  be  derived  from  land,  canals, 
and  other  improvements ;  to  form  a  permanent  fund  to  carry 
out  any  plan  you  may  adopt  for  the  purposes  of  education. 
A  government  like  ours  carried  on  by  the  will  of  the  people, 
should  be  careful  to  use  all  the  means  in  its  power  to  en- 
lighten the  minds  of  those  who  are  destined  to  exercise  so 
important  a  trust.    This  and  every  consideration  comiected 

»Niles  Weekly  Reg-ister,  v.   15,  p.   192. 
'Sen.  Jr.,  1824-5,  p.  19. 


122 

with  the  virtue,  elevation  and  happiness  of  man,  and  the  char- 
acter and  prosperity  of  our  State,  and  of  our  common  country 
calls  upon  you  to  establish  some  permanent  system  of  com- 
mon schools  by  which  an  education  may  be  placed  within  the 
power,  nay,  if  possible  secured  to  every  child  in  the  State." ' 

The  governors  above  mentioned  exemplified  the  part 
taken  by  the  chief  executives  in  support  of  education.  We 
shall  speak  in  another  connection  of  those  who  assisted  the 
passage  of  the  free  school  law  of  1855.  But  no  less  influential 
in  moulding  the  common  schools  of  the  national  period  were 
the  preachers,  writers,  lawyers  and  the  professional  classes 
generally. 

Were  one  to  select  the  man  whose  efforts  were  the  great- 
est for  the  moral  and  educational  uplift  of  the  people,  it 
would  1)e  Rev.  J.  M.  Peck.  The  organization  of  the  Rock 
Spring  Seminary  was  but  one  of  his  many-sided  activities. 
Sunday  schools,  through  which  the  com.mon  children  and 
many  of  the  older  people  learned  to  read  and  write  Avere  first 
developed  by  this  missionary  preacher.  Peck  was  found  at 
every  important  gathering,  legislative,  agricultural,  religious 
and  educational,  urging  the  creation  of  a  system  of  schools 
for  the  common  people.  Through  him,  a  public  meeting,  as- 
sembled in  the  state  house  at  Vandalia  to  hear  an  address 
by  Judge  Hall  on  education,  became  the  nucleus  of  the  first 
state  teachers'  association.  He  was  acquainted  with  the  best 
in  the  New  England  schools,  and  knew  how  to  impart  that 
knowledge  to  others,  either  in  his  horseback  rides  over  the 
State  with  backwoodsmen,  or  in  legislative  halls  with  gover- 
nors and  political  leaders.  In  him,  the  common  man's  chil- 
dren, as  well  as  the  children  of  the  elite,  had  a  lifelong  friend. 
The  passage  of  the  first  permanent  free  school  law  in  the 
State  was  a  fitting  tribute  to  him,  who  had  spent  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  century  for  the  cause  of  education  in  the  State 
of  Illinois. 

The  New  England  and  eastern  settlers  in  Illinois  were 
distinguished  by  their  championship  of  the  cause  of  free  com- 
mon school  education.  Jonathan  B.  Turner,  a  teacher  in 
Illinois  College,  spent  the  prime  of  his  life,  1834-55,  for  the 
cause  of  the  education  of  the  common  people,  although  he  is 


=■8611.  Jr.,  1834-5. 


123 

better  known  for  bis  service  in  the  advocation  of  and  the 
establishment  of  the  University  of  Illinois.  Conventions  were 
organized,  addresses  were  made,  and  letters  and  pamphlets 
were  written  by  Turner,  advocating  the  establishment  of  the 
common  school  by  co-operation,  and  the  unity  of  the  educa- 
tional forces  of  the  State.  A  letter  to  his  fiancee  showed  that 
he  went  about  the  State  w^orking  for  the  common  school : 

''Soon  after  writing  my  last,  I  determined  to  spend  my 
vacation  in  looking  into  the  state  of  common  schools  in  Illi- 
nois. I  have  been  absent  about  seven  weeks,  have  passed 
through  some  dozen  or  fifteen  counties  and  delivered  public 
addresses  in  all  the  county  seats  and  principal  villages." 

"The  result  is  that  in  all  the  counties  I  have  visited,  and 
many  others  to  which  I  have  written,  they  have  resolved  to 
call  county  meetings  and  elect  delegates  to  the  State  Con- 
vention to  be  held  at  Vandalia  next  December  to  discuss  the 
subject  of  common  schools,  and  lay  the  subject  before  the 
people  and  Legislature.  My  success  has  been  better  than  I 
expected,  and  I  hope  great  good  will  result."  * 

Another  statement  represented  some  of  the  things  that 
Turner  said  in  his  addresses  to  the  people  on  the  subject  of 
common  schools:  "While  others  are  still  contesting  the 
boundaries  of  human  freedom  and  adjusting  the  restraints 
of  human  depravity,  we  would  give  unlimited  scope  to  the 
one  by  exterminating  the  other  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 
AVith  these  ends  in  view,  it  devolves  on  us  to  augment  the 
facilities,  the  resources  and  the  completion  of  knowledge,  until 
a  royal  road  shall  be  paved  from  the  threshold  of  every  cabin 
in  the  land  to  the  open  doors  and  waiting  honors  of  our  most 
magnificent  temples  of  science.  If  by  council,  concert,  and  co- 
operation, we  concentrate  our  energies  and  husband  our  re- 
sources to  the  utmost,  who  can  over-estimate  the  final  result? 
But  if  we  fling  the  experience  of  the  past  and  the  advantages 
of  the  present  to  the  winds,  and  each  for  himself  resolves  in 
his  own  solitary  career  of  experiment  and  effort, — beleaguer- 
ing and  jading  the  public  mind,  and  exhausting  the  public 
resources  with  our  own  isolated  and  selfish  schemes — what  a 
fearful  retribution  awaits  both  of  us  and  those  who  are  to 
come  after  us."  ° 


*  Life  of  Jonathan  Baldwin  Turner,  p.   70. 
•Ibid.  p.  72. 


124 

The  whole  group  of  Illinois  College  men  and  their  as- 
sociates— Edward  Beecher,  Julian  M.  Sturtevant,  Truman 
M.  Post,  Theron  Baldwin,  William  Kirby,  Samuel  Adams, 
Elisha  Jenney,  Asa  Turner,  John  F.  Brooks,  Samuel  D.  Lock- 
wood,  J.  M.  Ellis,  Albert  Hale  and  William  Brown — were  de- 
voted advocates  of  the  common  school.  The  welfare  of  the 
State  and  the  happiness  of  the  people  depended  not  only  on 
the  advancement  of  education,  but  these  men  also  saw  that 
the  cause  of  higher  learning  was  destined  to  be  founded  on  a 
common  public  school  system. 

Notices  of  the  work  done  in  the  advancement  of  educa- 
tion by  some  of  these  men  appeared  in  the  newspapers  of  that 
day:  "At  the  commencement  in  Jacksonville,  Aug.  21,  1833, 
an  address  on  Common  Schools,  by  Rev.  Theron  Baldwin." 
''Thursday  evening,  Nov.  13,  1834,  an  address  in  Spring-jSeld 
by  Prof.  J.  B.  Turner,  Subject:  Common  Schools."  "Lec- 
ture on  Education  by  Rev.  Mr.  Baldwin  at  Mt.  Carmel, 
Wabash  County,  August,  1836."  "A  lecture  by  Prof.  Stur- 
tevant in  Springfield,  1843,  in  behalf  of- a  State  Superintend- 
ent. Lecture  repeated  before  the  legislature  the  next  night." 
"The  annual  commencement  of  Jacksonville  College  Sept.  21, 
1836.  N.  B. — A  convention  of  teachers  will  be  held  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  preceding  day  to  concert  measures  for  the 
cause  of  education  in  this  state.  "^ 

Judge  Hall,  the  foremost  literary  writer  of  the  State  up 
to  the  time  of  his  removal  to  Cincinnati,  in  1833,  advocated 
public  education  in  his  addresses  and  writings.  Theron 
Baldwin,  with  other  Illinois  College  men,  took  up  the  cause 
of  education  in  their  editorship  of  the  Common  School  Advo- 
cate. John  S.  Wright  of  Chicago,  built  a  common  school  in 
1835  in  Chicago,  at  his  own  expense;  edited  the  Prairie 
Farmer,  a  journal  devoted  to  agriculture,  mechanic  arts,  and 
common  schools,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  creation  of 
educational  laws.  Charles  E.  Hovey,  the  first  editor  of  the 
Illinois  Teacher,  the  president  of  the  State  Teachers'  As- 
sociation, principal  of  the  public  schools  of  Peoria,  and  head 
of  the  Normal  School  established  in  1857,  performed  a  dis- 
tinguished service  in  organizing  and  uniting  the  teachers  of 
the  State  in  the  cause  of  free  public  schools. 

•State  Supt.  Report,   1885-6,  p.   128. 


125 

Besides  the  editors  just  mentioned,  the  missionary  cir- 
cuit riders  and  state  religious  agents  seldom  failed  to  lend 
their  influence  for  the  enlightenment  of  the  children  of  the 
State.  Lemuel  Foster,  appointed  in  1832  as  a  missionary  to 
Illinois,  built  an  academy  in  Jacksonville  and  one  in  Bloom- 
ington  where  common,  as  well  as  academic  instruction  was 
given;  established  Sunday  schools  in  the  surrounding  country 
and  interviewed  his  constituents  for  the  purpose  of  gaining 
their  support  for  public  instruction.  John  F.  Brooks,  sent 
to  St.  Clair  county,  opened  one  of  the  first  teachers'  semi- 
naries in  Waverley,  in  1837,  directed  the  Springfield  Academy 
in  1840,  and  acted  as  principal  of  the  public  schools  in  the 
same  city.  Other  typical  religious  leaders  were  Eomulus 
Barnes,  Flavel  Bascom,  Aratus  Kent,  Peter  Cartwright  and 
Hubbel  Loomis. 

The  work  of  the  state  superintendents  and  legislators  in 
securing  laws  for  the  organization  of  free  schools  should  not 
be  overlooked.  Mr.  Gatewood  was  named  in  the  last  chapter 
and  an  extract  of  his  address  was  given  to  show  what  he,  as 
chairman  of  the  Senate  Educational  Committee,  thought  were 
the  reasons  for  developing  common  schools.  S.  W.  Moulton, 
to  whom  the  free  school  bill  was  entrusted,  in  the  legislature 
in  1854,  spent  several  years  after  the  passage  of  the  law  in 
writing  articles  and  giving  addresses  on  the  justification  of 
taxation  for  the  support  of  schools,  and  the  manner  in  which 
the  distribution  of  revenue  for  school  purposes  should  take 
place.  N.  W.  Edwards  spent  much  time  in  gathering  statis- 
tics to  show  the  condition  of  the  schools  of  the  State.  As 
superintendent,  he  visited  every  county  and  gave  addresses 
urging  the  creation  of  free  schools.  Moreover,  the  legislature 
required  that  he  prepare  a  bill  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
entire  school  system.  A  state  agqnt  was  appointed  by  the 
State  Teachers'  Association  to  travel  over  the  State  in  the 
interest  of  free  schools.  His  first  report  indicated  the  nature 
of  his  work : 

He  visited  twenty-one  schools  and  delivered  sixteen  eve- 
ning addresses  the  first  month.  ''At  Hennepin,  I  found  a  new 
and  beautiful  edifice,  erected  at  a  cost  of  seven  thousand  dol- 
lars, for  a  private  school,  and  labored,  not  without  hope  of 
success,  to  induce  the  people  to  obtain  it  and  establish  therein 


126 

a  graded  free  school.  At  Kewanee,  it  was  attempted  to  show 
that  the  true  interests  of  Wethersfield  and  Kewanee,  adja- 
cent districts,  would  be  promoted  by  purchasing  the  semi- 
nary building  located  midway  between  them,  and  organizing 
in  it  a  Central  High  School.  The  stock-holders  proposed  to 
give  the  six  thousand  dollars  already  expended,  if  the  two 
districts  would  assume  the  indebtedness — two  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  proposition  was  well  received,  and  has  since  been 
adopted.  They  will  soon  rejoice  in  the  possession  of  a  first 
class  High  School,  free  to  all  whose  attainments  entitle  them 
to  admission."  "^ 

Men  of  national  prominence  in  other  states  were  also  in- 
fluential in  the  development  of  the  school  system  of  Illinois. 
The  ideas  of  Jefferson  were  foremost  in  the  law  of  1825.  De- 
Witt  Clinton  was  a  leader,  in  the  state  of  New  York,  in  crea- 
ting a  common  school  system.  But  his  addresses  appeared  in 
the  Illinois  papers,  of  which  the  following  is  a  typical  extract : 
' '  The  great  bulwark  of  a  republican  government,  is  the  culti- 
vation of  education;  for  the  right  of  suffrage  cannot  be  ex- 
ercised in  a  salutary  manner  without  intelligence.  Ten  years 
of  a  child's  life,  from  five  to  fifteen,  may  be  spent  in  a  common 
school,  and  ought  this  immense  portion  of  time  to  be  absorbed 
in  learning  what  can  be  acquired  in  a  short  period?  Perhaps 
one-fourth  of  our  population  is  annually  instructed  in  our 
common  schools,  and  ought  the  minds  and  the  morals  of  the 
rising,  and  perhaps  the  destinies  of  all  future  generations, 
to  be  entrusted  to  the  guardianship  of  incompetence?  The 
scale  of  instruction  must  be  elevated ;  the  standard  of  educa- 
tion ought  to  be  raised.  Small  and  suitable  collections  of 
books  and  maps  attached  to  our  common  schools,  and  periodi- 
cal examinations  to  test  the  proficiency  of  scholars,  and  the 
merits  of  the  teachers,  are  worthy  of  attention.  When  it  is 
understood  that  objects  of  this  description  enter  into  the  for- 
mation of  our  characters,  control  our  destinies  through  life, 
protect  the  freedom  and  advance  the  glory  of  our  country; 
and  that  this  is  the  appropriate  soil  of  liberty  and  education, 
that  it  be  our  pride,  as  it  is  our  duty  to  spare  no  exertions, 
and  to  shrink  from  no  expense,  in  the  promotion  of  a  cause 
consecrated  by  religion,  and  enjoined  by  patriotism."  " 

*I11.  Teach.,  v.  5.  p.  90. 
•Sang.  Jr.,  Jan.  10,  1835. 


127 

Horace  Mann's  and  Henry  Barnard's  reports  dealing 
with  the  organization  and  establishment  of  a  common  school 
system,  also  were  quoted  in  Illinois  publications.  Moreover, 
Mr.  Barnard  was  on  the  program  at  two  different  common 
school  conventions  where  he  discussed  the  internal  features 
of  free  schools.^ 

Any  classification  of  some  of  the  representative  leaders 
is  impossible  because  their  interests  were  so  many  sided.  An 
Hlinois  College  founder  like  Baldwin  was  a  missionary,  who 
established  Sunday  schools,  a  preacher  who  advocated  the 
cause  of  education  before  the  legislature,  and  the  principal  of 
Monticello  Seminary  wherein  some  teachers  were  trained  for 
the  common  schools.  Moreover,  he  was  an  editor  of  one  of  the 
literary  agencies  for  the  promotion  of  education  in  the  West. 

Literary  Agencies. 

Only  a  little  of  the  literary  material  of  the  period  to  1850 
has  been  preserved.  In  that  which  has  survived,  the  subject 
of  education  continually  appears.  Many  of  the  newspapers 
spread  information  about  the  schools  of  the  State,  inserted 
addresses  from  men  like  Governor  Clinton,  Horace  Mann  and 
Henry  Barnard  on  education,  summarized  the  reports  of  state 
superintendents  of  public  instruction  in  such  states  as  New 
York  and  Connecticut,  and  recommended  the  adoption  of  cer- 
tain principles  for  the  improvement  of  education  in  Illinois. 
As  the  creators  of  public  opinion,  and  the  means  by  which  the 
knowledge  of  school  practices  was  disseminated,  many  of  the 
new^spapers  were  preeminent. 

The  ideas  attributed  to  Judge  Hall,  the  first  newspaper 
editor  in  the  State,  have  come  from  the  volumes  of  the  Illinois 
Monthly  Magazine,  published  at  Vandalia,  1827  to  1830.  That 
publication  might  well  be  called  the  first  school  journal  of  the 
State.  Among  other  articles  were  those  on  the  need  for  scien- 
tific instruction  as  opposed  to  an  all-language  curriculum; 
arguments  for  the  creation  of  a  state  system  of  free  common 
education;  recommendations  for  the  use  of  new  and  better 
text-books,  and  survej^s  of  the  educational  means  in  existence. 
This  magazine  was  too  far  in  advance  of  the  literary  ability 
of  the  people  on  the  frontier;  hence  it  was  necessary  for  the 
editor  to  remove  to  Cincinnati  in  the  early  thirties  where  the 
publication  was  continued. 

•state  Supt.  Rep.,  1885-6,  p.  152. 


128 

However,  in  1837,  appeared  the  Common  School  Advo- 
cate, a  monthly  journal,  printed  at  Jacksonville.  A  group  of 
editors,  probably  Illinois  College  teachers,  carried  on  the 
publication  for  a  year  without  pay.  Even  the  short  existence 
of  the  paper,  only  twelve  months,  advanced  the  common  school 
cause.  The  contents  of  the  Advocate  are  indicated  by  the 
first  editorial  suggesting  topics  for  contribution. 

''Objects  of  education — different  grades  of  it,  and  the 
kind  adapted  to  this  age.  Teaching  made  a  profession — 
benefits  of  it.  Best  method  of  teaching  geography,  arithmetic, 
grammar,  reading,  writing,  etc.  Common  schools — their  im- 
portance, etc.  Necessity  of  well  qualified  teachers.  Teach- 
ers' seminaries.  Government  and  discipline  of  a  school. 
School  books.  Common  school  libraries  and  apparatus. 
Duties  of  parents,  teachers  and  trustees.  Location  and  struc- 
ture of  school  houses.  Systems  of  education  in  our  own  and 
other  countries.  Importance  of  universal  education  under 
free  governments.  Accounts  of  educational  associations  and 
conventions,  or  of  particular  schools.  Facts  respecting  the 
state  of  education,  particularly  in  Illinois.  The  system  best 
adapted  to  our  circumstances.  Moral  and  religious  education 
in  schools.  Connection  between  i.gnorance  and  crime — be- 
tween intelligence  and  national  prosperity. ' "° 

But  the  most  influential  school  journal,  until  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Illinois  Teacher,  in  1854,  was  the  Prairie  Farmer, 
issued  as  the  Union  Agriculturist  from  1841  to  1843.  The  title 
page,  among  other  things,  said  it  was  a  journal  dedicated  to 
the  cause  of  the  common  schools  in  Illinois.  Without  its 
record,  the  story  of  the  struggle  for  free  education  in  the 
period  from  1841  to  1854,  would  be  almost  impossible  of  re- 
production. Such  articles  as  these  were  discussed  in  its 
pages :  the  need  for  a  normal  school ;  the  necessity  for  trained 
teachers;  the  criminal  negligence  in  not  providing  decent 
common  school  buildings ;  reports  of  the  ex-officio  state  super- 
intendent of  common  schools;  proceedings  of  educational  con- 
ventions, both  state  and  county;  arguments  against  select 
schools  and  private  academies;  the  reasons  for  free  schools; 
the  subjects  taught  in  the  free  schools;  reports  of  the  New 
England  and  New  York  common  schools;  advantages  of  a 
State  superintendent;  gradation  as  a  means  of  improvement 

»•  state  Supt.  Report,   1885-6,  p.   133. 


129 

in  the  educational  system;  desirable  school  legislation,  and 
school  statistics. 

The  cause  of  the  farmer  was  the  cause  of  the  common 
school.  The  readers  of  the  Prairie  Farmer,  besides  learning 
about  agriculture  and  mechanic  arts,  were  bemg  educated  m 
the  cause  of  free  schools,  so  that  the  passage  and  adoption  ot 
the  free  school  law  of  1855  was  possible.  Moreover,  this 
ioumal  had  the  unique  distinction  and  advantage  of  reaching 
the  patrons  of  the  schools  rather  than  being  a  journal  read  by 
the  teachers  only.  •  . 

Last,  but  by  no  means  least,  was  the  Illinois  leacher, 
founded  in  the  interests  of  education,  in  1854.  Estabhshed 
about  a  year  before  the  passage  of  the  first  permanent  tree 
school  law,  this  journal  became  a  means,  primarily,  ot  helping 
develop  the  free  schools.  Methods  of  teaching  the  subjects  m 
the  curriculum  were  discussed  in  each  number  from  year  to 
year.  Educational  news  in  the  way  of  promotions,  increases 
in  salary,  and  the  employment  and  marriage  of  teachers  ap- 
peared. The  proceedings  of  educational  conventions;  digests 
of  school  law ;  controversies  over  which  section  of  the  State 
was  more  enlightened— "Egypt,"  or  the  North;  reasons  for 
gradation  with  the  explanation  of  its  meaning;  reports  trom 
the  State  agent  travelling  in  the  interests  of  the  establishment 
of  free  schools;  notices  of  the  creation  of  high  schools  and 
suggested  curricula  for  them  were  a  few  of  the  many  subjects 

treated. 

The  teachers,  especially,  were  made  conscious  of  many  of 
the  problems  raised  by  the  beginning  of  free  schools.  Also, 
were  the  teachers  benefited  by  the  experiences  of  others 
through  the  medium  of  the  first  relatively  permanent  protes- 
sional  journal.  The  support  of  the  Illinois  Teacher  by  the 
profession  itself  signified,  for  the  first  time,  a  unity  of  action 
and  a  group  consciousness  of  the  teachers  themselves.  With 
that  power  back  of  the  free  schools,  progress  became  possible. 
Institutions  Whose  Objects  Indirectly  Aided  Common  School 

Education. 

Prominent  among  the  organizations  for  the  aid  of  the 
common  schools,  was  the  Ladies'  Association  for  the  Educa- 
tion of  Females,  established  at  Jacksonville,  Oct.  4. 18^^,  tne 
principal  object  of  which  shall  be  to  encourage  and  assist 


130 

young  ladies  to  qualify  themselves  for  teaching,  and  aid  in 
supporting  teachers  in  those  places  where  they  cannot  other- 
wise be  sustained.'"^ 

''The  plan  was  liberal  and  simple.  The  principle  object 
was  to  educate  teachers,  but  no  pledges  were  exacted;  no  at- 
tempt to  decide  where  or  how  the  individual  could  be  most 
useful.  The  great  object  was  to  instruct  and  elevate  the  hu- 
man mind  for  its  own  sake,  and  in  the  belief  that  a  mind  right- 
ly educated  will  not  fail  to  enlighten  others'"^ 

The  fifth  annual  report  of  this  association  advertised 
schools  where  prospective  teachers  could  receive  training. 
Such  were  in  Fulton,  Morgan,  Greene,  Madison,  Macoupin, 
Bond,  Pike,  Putnam,  Knox,  McLean  and  LaSalle  counties. 
Moreover,  auxiliary  associations  had  been  formed  in  Chicago, 
Ottawa,  Farmington,  Peoria,  Springfield,  Alton,  Upper  Alton, 
Rushville,  Carlinville,  Galena,  Griggsville,  Quincy,  Fairfield, 
Hadley,  Warsaw,  Carlyle,  Augusta,  Knoxville,  Bloomington, 
Jacksonville,  Carrollton,  Manchester,  Canton,  Waverly,  Win- 
chester, Jerseyville,  Beardstown,  and  Joliet.^- 

The  power  of  the  association  is  seen  in  that  twelve  hun- 
dred young  women  were  assisted  in  receiving  an  education, 
many  of  whom  became  teachers  in  the  common  schools,  with 
$25,091.35  expended  for  that  purpose.  The  Illinois  Teacher 
described  the  work,  purposes  and  aims  of  the  organization 
thus:  ''With  none  of  the  pomp  and  e'clat  which  herald  the 
movements  of  other  institutions,  it  has  gone  steadily  on  in  its 
benign  mission"  *  *  *  educating  young  ladies,  "who 
else  must  have  been  forever  denied  the  blessings  of  liberal 
culture,  have  been  sent  forth  to  be  angels  of  mercy  and  joy  to 
many  hearts  and  homes,  in  this  and  other  lands.  This  is  not 
the  language  of  mere  eulogy ;  we  have  watched  the  progress  of 
this  society  from  its  foundation;  we  know  the  ladies  who  are 
and  have  been  its  officers  and  friends;  we  know  its  struggles 
and  labors,  and  we  know  its  fruits.  We  cannot  better  express 
our  opinion  of  its  history  and  character  than  in  the  touching 
and  eloquent  words  of  one  of  its  founders : ' ' 

"Silent,  catholic,  economical  and  persevering;  it  has  been 
so  Christ-like  in  its  labors  that  the  world  has  never  known 
and  could  not  stop  to  read  its  history.    Its  anniversaries  have 

'*  5th  An.  Rep    Lad.   Assoc. 
"  5th  An.  Rep    Lad.  Assoc. 


131 

been  simple  exponents  of  an  institution  partaking  so  little  of 
the  spirit  of  the  world.  No  noise,  or  parade,  but  a  plain  state- 
ment of  its  labor,  expenditures,  and  successes.  Its  history  is 
written  in  the  heart  of  many  a  missionary,  toiling  in  obscure 
indigence;  it  is  written,  too,  in  the  heart  of  the  orphan  and 
the  poor,  who  by  timely  aid  have  been  able  to  break  the  fet- 
ters by  which  poverty  held  back  their  aspirations  for  knowl- 
edge; it  will  be  read  in  the  ages  to  come,  in  the  light  of 
heaven."  ^^ 

This  association  mainly  educated  poor  girls,  many  of 
whom  found  their  way  as  teachers  into  the  common  schools. 
A  better  class  of  teachers  was  thus  provided  than  would  have 
been  without  the  work  of  this  association. 

Workingmen's  organizations,  in  the  absence  of  common 
schools,  provided  education  for  the  youth  of  their  districts. 
Even  the  Mechanics'  Union  of  Springfield  advertised  that  its 
school  was  the  free  public  school  of  the  city.  These  asso- 
ciations helped  focus  the  attention  of  the  people  on  the  need 
for,  and  the  absence  of,  a  free  school  system.  Newspapers 
commented  upon  the  worthy  purposes  of  the  workmen,  and 
advertised,  in  the  news  sections  of  the  paper,  the  rates  of 
tuition,  the  curricula  and  the  objects.  One  association  stated 
its  aims  in  these  words : 

' '  The  Springfield  Mechanics '  Union  is  established  for  the 
creation  of  a  common  school,  and  a  public  library,  and  for  the 
promotion  of  literature,  science,  and  the  mechanic  arts;"^* 
Other  purposes  were  stated  but  they  are  not  related  to  the 
subject  of  education.  Similarly,  the  Mechanics'  Union  of 
Chicago  said  that  its  object  was  to  diffuse  knowledge  and  in- 
formation throughout  the  mechanic  classes,  to  found  lec- 
tures on  natural,  mechanical  and  chemical  philosophy,  and 
other  scientific  subjects ;  to  create  a  library  and  a  museum  for 
the  benefit  of  others,  and  to  establish  schools  for  the  benefit  of 
their  children. 

The  movement  for  the  education  of  the  children  of  the 
working  men  was  general  in  the  period  from  1830  to  1865. 
Common  schools  were  established  in  the  principal  cities 
throughout  the  East  and  the  middle  West.  Many  of  the  Me- 
chanics  Institutes  in  the  older  cities  today,  owq  their  origin  to 

"111.  Teach.,  v.  4,  p.   286. 
"  Sess.   Laws,   1839-40,   p.   74. 


132 

this  period  in  which  labor  organizations  established  schools 
in  the  absence  of  a  free  common  school  system.  Through  that 
experience,  the  public  was  gradually  learning  the  value  of, 
and  how  free  schools  should  be  established. 

General  education,  by  whatever  means,  had  a  decisive  in- 
fluence in  making  it  possible  for  the  creation  of  universal  free 
education.  The  emancipation  of  the  mind  of  men  and  women 
from  ignorance  gave  them  the  taste  for  the  education  that 
ought  to  be  provided  for  their  children.  Another  means, 
therefore,  by  which  older  people  were  educated  was  the  public 
library.  These,  indeed,  assisted  the  establishment  of  a  com- 
mon school  system  by  showing  the  merits  of  education. 

Public  libraries  were  formed  as  joint  stock  companies  in 
several  towns.  The  county  commissioners'  record  of  Edwards 
county,  1815  to  1832,  had  the  names  of  twelve  stockholders 
who  subscribed  97  of  the  300  shares  for  the  creation  of  a 
public  library ;  whereupon  the  contract  was  let  to  John  Robin- 
son for  the  erection  of  a  library  building  to  cost  $1,800. 

This  building  was  used  for  public  meetings,  a  house  of 
worship  and  a  library.  ''A  good  market  house,  and  a  public 
library  is  at  the  end,  in  which  a  kind  of  Unitarian  worship  is 
held  on  Sunday,  when  a  sermon  and  church  service,  purified, 
is  read  by  any  one  who  pleases.  The  books  are  donations 
from  the  Flower  family,  and  their  friends  in  England."^' 
' '  They  have  a  library,  and  much  attention  appears  to  be  paid 
to  the  cultivation  of  the  mind  as  well  as  the  soil.'"^ 

Edwardsville  made  a  similarly  early  start  in  the  founda- 
tion of  a  library  by  buying  books  from  Boston.  "It  will,  no 
doubt,  be  gratifying  to  the  proprietors  of  this  institution  to 
know  that  the  books  lately  ordered  from  Boston  have  arrived. 
Those  subscribers,  who  are  in  arrears,  it  is  hoped,  will  come 
forward  and  by  paying  up,  entitle  themselves  and  others  to 
use  one  of  the  best  collections  of  books  in  the  country.  "^^  The 
catalogue  of  books,  which  were  considered  the  masterpieces 
of  literature,  appeared  in  the  same  issue  of  the  Spectator  as 
the  above  quotation. 

The  session  laws  have  several  of  the  articles  of  incor- 
poration of  public  library  associations  in  them.     Other  un- 

"  Faux  Jr..  p.  253.  Thwaites,  v.  1. 
"Niles  Reg.,  v.  19,  p.  368. 
"Spec.  Aug.  7,  1819. 


133 

incorporated  organizations  were  also  formed,  both  of  which 
served  as  a  means  of  public  enlightenment.  Usually,  the 
membership  fee  was  low  enough  for  all  to  join,  perhaps  one 
dollar  a  year,  and  the  people  were  requested  to  make  use  of 
the  books. 

''The  trustees  of  the  Warsaw  Library  Association  take 
pleasure  in  informing  the  stockholders  of  the  institution 
that  they  have  procured  the  railroad  office  for  their  use,  and 
that  they  are  fitting  up  in  connection  with  it  a  Eeading  Room, 
which  will  be  open  in  a  few  days,  well  supplied  with  news- 
papers. The  room  will  be  open  each  day  (Sunday  excepted) 
after  the  hour  of  five  o'clock,  P.  M.,  at  which  time  stock- 
holders wishing  to  receive  or  exchange  books,  will  be  waited 
upon  by  the  librarian  for  that  purpose.  Ladies  and  gentle- 
men of  the  village,  and  strangers  sojourning  among  us,  are 
respectfully  invited  to  use  it. ' '  ^^ 

A  second  means  of  promoting  the  general  intelligence 
were  the  academies.  More  direct  connection  between  the 
semi-public  seminaries  and  the  common  schools  existed  than 
at  first  might  be  suspected.  The  principals  and  teachers  of 
many  of  the  former  institutions  were  leaders  in  the  educa- 
tional thought  of  the  State.  Those  men  and  women  held  their 
positions  because  of  their  ability,  and  the  trust  placed  in  them 
by  the  public.  Active  in  the  councils  of  the  state,  and  county 
associations,  those  men  took  every  occasion  to  promote  free 
education.  Indeed,  they  appeared  before  the  general  as- 
sembly in  the  interests  of  the  common  schools,  as  well  as  in 
the  interests  of  the  academies.  Finally,  they  were  intelligent 
and  generous  enough  to  believe  that  the  hope  of  higher  learn- 
ing lay  in  the  creation  of  a  free  school  system. 

Moreover,  l3oth  public  and  private  academies  provided 
much  of  the  common  school  education  of  the  time.  In  the 
charters  of  the  former,  a  stipulation  usually  was  made  which 
required  or  provided  that  the  academies  conduct  common 
schools.  The  following  quotation  is  an  example  of  the  re- 
lationship between  the  academy  and  the  common  school: 
"Sec.  9.  There  shall  also  be  attached  to  the  said  academy, 
a  department  in  which  shall  be  taught  branches  that  are 
usually  taught  in  the  common  schools  of  the  district  in  which 


"Warsaw  SigTial.  May  26,  1841. 


134 

said  academy  may  be  situated ;  and  the  said  trustees  of  said 
academy,  shall  receive  from  the  school  commissioner  of  the 
county,  the  same  amount  of  money  in  the  same  proportion, 
and  apply  the  same  to  such  tuition  in  the  same  manner  as 
other  common  schools  are  paid  and  kept ;  Provided,  that  the 
teachers  or  instructors,  of  said  department  shall  be  selected 
by  the  trustees  and  under  the  control  of  the  by-laws  of  said 
corporation. ' '  ^® 

But  the  share  of  the  common  school  fund  that  the  acad- 
emies received  for  maintaining  a  common  school  was  not  suf- 
ficient to  pay  the  expenses  of  a  very  long  term.  The  result 
was  that  the  academies  charged  their  common  school  pupils 
tuition  at  a  little  lower  rate  than  was  received  for  the  higher 
branches,  or  reduced  the  tuition  of  all  subjects  by  the  amount 
that  they  expected  to  receive  from  the  school  fund,  or  kept 
the  rate  of  tuition  as  high  as  possible,  even  when  they  re- 
ceived their  share  of  public  money,  because  there  was  no 
authority  that  required  a  standard  rate  of  tuition. 

Nevertheless,  the  proposed  school  bill  of  1835  was  an 
attempt  by  which  one  academy  in  each  county  of  the  State 
should  be  so  regulated  and  supported  as  to  be  a  direct  benefit 
to  the  common  school.  Tuition  for  the  graduates  of  the  acad- 
emy who  were  to  be  teachers  in  the  common  school,  Avas  to 
be  paid  by  the  State.  At  any  rate,  the  academy  and  the  com- 
mon school  were  brought  into  a  closer  relation  by  some  of  the 
students  of  the  former  becoming  teachers  in  the  latter.  The 
two  institutions  were  again  brought  together,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  advancing  the  interests  of  the  common  schools,  in  the 
series  of  educational  conventions  that  were  held  between 
1833  and  1855.  Before  discussing  the  conventions,  however, 
a  study  of  the  work  of  the  Sunday  schools  follows : 

The  Sunday  school  was  very  prominent  in  raising  the 
level  of  general  intelligence  throughout  the  State.  It  had  its 
origin  in  Europe,  in  the  Weslej^an  revival,  beginning  in  1738, 
and  the  humanitarian  philosophy  that  just  preceded  the 
French  Eevolution.  In  England,  the  purpose  was  primarily 
concerned  with  the  education  of  poor  children,  but  independ- 
ent of  the  church.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  United  States, 
the  first  Sunday  school,  organized  at  Philadelphia  in  1791, 

"  Sess.  Laws,  1841,  p.  7. 


135 

was  established  for  the  purpose  of  giving  secular  and  relig- 
ious instruction.  It  was  the  accepted  province  of  the  church 
to  give  religious  education,  and  the  connection  between  the 
common  school  and  the  church  had  been  so  close  that  the 
Sunday  school  developed  as  a  church  institution.  On  the 
secular  side,  the  Sunday  school  provided  rudimentary  educa- 
tion for  the  lower  classes  in  the  older  states,  while  all  classes 
in  the  frontier  western  communities  received  the  benefits  of 
that  well  organized  body. 

After  1831,  the  Massachusetts  Sunday  School  Union  be- 
came a  parent  of  smaller  organizations  in  Illinois,  while  the 
Illinois  State  Sunday  School  Union,  composed  of  members  of 
the  principal  religious  denominations  in  the  State,  organized 
branches  in  nearly  every  county  and  smaller  auxiliary 
branches,  both,  through  the  help  of  state  agents,  intelligent 
and  devoted  citizens,  resident  clergy  and  circuit  missionaries. 

Eev.  Theron  Baldwin  gave  this  account  as  an  example  of 
his  work  in  establishing  Sunday  schools : 

"The  Sabbath  School, — to  establish  which  was  among  my 
first  efforts  here,  commenced  about  the  first  of  February  with 
a  good  degree  of  interest  *  *  *  It  numbers  a  little  more 
than  one-hundred.  The  library  books  have  been  read,  and 
these  in  connection  mth  the  exercises  of  the  school  have  evi- 
dently done  much  already  towards  creating  a  thirst  for 
knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  scholars.  Of  the  one-hundred 
five  who  have  entered  the  school,  only  thirty-seven  could  read. 
I  have  made  particular  efforts  in  the  Sabbath  School,  from  a 
firm  conviction  that  the  minister  of  Christ  can  spend  a  part 
of  his  energies,  at  least,  in  no  other  wav  to  so  great  advan- 
tage."'" 

The  following  is  an  account  of  how  Sunday  schools  were 
established:  **It  is  often  difficult  to  start  a  Sabbath  school, 
there  is  so  much  ignorant  prejudice  and  opposition.  I  have 
a  way  which  does  well,  when  many  good  efforts  of  another 
sort  are  lost.  In  my  visiting  about,  I  look  out  some  house  in 
the  settlement  where  I  intend  to  form  a  school, — and  one  can 
generally  be  obtained  in  one  way  or  another — and  then  with- 
out giving  a  word  of  notice,  for  that  would  awaken  and  com- 
bine opposition,  I  fill  my  saddle-bags  wdth  books  begging 

"Home  Miss.,   v.  2,  p.   59. 


13G 

what  I  can,  buying  what  I  cannot  beg,  (for  it  is  against  the 
rules  of  the  S.  S.  Union  to  give  books  before  a  school  is 
formed)  get  on  my  horse  and  ride  around  with  them  to  each 
family  in  the  settlement,  talk  over  with  them  the  whole  matter 
of  the  Sabbath  School,  and  its  benefits,  persuading  the 
parents,  showing  my  books  and  interesting  the  children, 
giving  to  each,  on  the  condition  of  their  attending  school,  such 
a  book  as  would  be  needed  in  it,  at  the  same  time  telling  them 
where  and  when  we  would  begin  to  meet.  In  this  way,  the 
careless  and  prejudiced,  who  would  not  stir  a  step  to  hear 
ever  so  many  addresses  on  Sabbath  Schools,  become  deeply 
interested."  ^^ 

Sunday  schools  were  established  as  early,  at  least  as 
1821,  for  the  settlers  of  Lebanon  formed  themselves  into 
a  society  and  built  a  house  where  a  seminary,  library,  a  de- 
bating club  and  a  Sunday  school  were  conducted.  About  a 
decade  later  the  records  show  how  extensively  the  system  was 
established  in  every  section.  Peck  estimated  that  375  Sunday 
schools  with  2000  teachers,  17,000  pupils  and  2000  volumes  in 
their  libraries,  were  in  existence  in  Illinois.^" 

Usually,  two  sessions  were  held  on  Sunday,  in  the  morn- 
ing and  in  the  afternoon,  where  reading,  writing  and  some 
very  simple  arithmetic  were  taught.  The  Bible,  religious 
hjnnns  and  religious  tracts  were  the  principal  texts.  The 
youth,  and  occasionally  their  elders,  were  taught  by  the  best 
educated  men  and  women  of  the  district  and  the  local  or  cir- 
cuit preacher  opened  or  closed  each  session  with  an  address 
to  all. 

These  institutions  made  communities  in  several  districts 
realize  their  educational  deprivation  which  surrounded  them 
with  the  result  that  in  some  instances,  the  Sunday  school  was 
continued  as  a  permanent  week-day  school.  Thus  the  in- 
habitants of  Rushville  first  founded  schools  on  Sunday,  and 
then,  ' 'formed  themselves  into  a  School  Association,  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  in  operation  a  permanent  school,  to  be 
taught  by  a  competent  instructor;  of  good  moral  and  tem- 
porate  habits."  ^^ 


"Home  Miss.,  vol.  2,  p.  59. 
"  Peck,  Gaz.,  p.  89. 
'^Home  Miss.,   v.  2,  p.  194. 


137 


In  considering  the  literary  agencies  m  Illinois,  Judge 
Hall  characterized  the  value  of  the  Sunday  schools  m  this 
manner-  ''We  view  these  efforts  with  unmmgled  pleasure. 
Apart  from  the  important  religious  bearing  of  the  Sunday 
School  system,  we  consider  it  the  most  powerful  engine,  that 
this  creative  age  has  produced,  for  diffusion  of  knowledge.  Its 
adaptation  to  the  wants  of  a  new  country  is  peculiar,  it 
brings  instruction  within  the  reach  of  thousands  who  have  not 
the  means  of  procuring  it  through  ordinary  channels;  dis- 
seminates education  free  of  expense;  scatters  books  far  and 
wide  over  the  country;  creates  a  taste  for  reading,  and  habits 
of  inquiry  among  the  young;  and  by  its  social  character  exer- 
cises a  most  happy  effect,  in  promotmg  kmd  feelmgs,  and 
cordial  intercourse  in  society.'"* 

Educational  Conventions. 
The  Vandalia  conventions  of  1833  and  1834  have  been 
sufficiently  discussed  in  the  last  chapter.  .  ^J^^f '/^j^^«^ 
meetings  were  the  first  of  a  large  number  m  the  State  and 
counties  to  1855.  They  created  enthusiasm  for  the  common 
schools;  they  brought  the  leaders  and  friends  of  education 
together,    and    made    harmonious    and    concentrated    ettort 

"Dossible 

The  constitution  of  the  Illinois  State  Education  Society, 
organized  at  Springfield,  Dec.  28,  1840,  was  an  illustration 
of  the  purpose  for  which  teachers'  associations  were 
founded-  ''The  friends  of  education  assembled  m  bprmg- 
field  believing  that  the  perpetuity  of  our  free  institutions, 
and  our  political,  social  and  moral  well  being,  depend  mainly 
on  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  people ;  and  that 
the  wants  of  our  rapidly  increasing  population  strongly  de- 
mands such  an  improvement  in  our  common  school  system 
as  will  place  the  benefits  of  education  withm  the  reach  ot 
everv  citizen  *  *  *  Its  object  shall  be  to  promote,  by  all 
laudable  means,  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  in  regard  to  edu- 
cation; and,  especially,  to  endeavor  to  render  the  system  ot 
common  schools  throughout  the  State  as  perfect  as  possi- 
ble. "^^ 

«I11.  Mo.  Maer..  v.  2.  d.   103. 
»Sate  Supt.  Rep.,  1885-6,  p.  136. 


138 

From  1841  to  the  constitutional  convention  of  1847,  much 
material  was  published  on  the  creation  of  a  State  Superin- 
tendent of  common  schools.  Petitions  were  circulated  at  the 
instance  of  educational  associations,  while  editors  of  news- 
papers and  journals  urged  their  readers  to  sign.  As  a  sample 
of  the  memorials  sent  to  the  legislature  by  teachers'  organiza- 
tions asking  for  the  establishment  of  a  superintendent  of 
common  schools,  let  us  examine  the  one  sent  in  1841. 

''Let  a  superintendent  of  common  schools  Be  appointed — 
a  man  of  talents,  and  yet  a  laborious  and  self-denying  man; 
one  who  would  go  into  all  the  dark  corners,  as  well  as  the 
bright  spots  of  the  State,  and  labor  day  in  and  day  out  for  the 
improvement  of  our  common  Schools.  Such  a  man  would  be 
a  great  use,  not  only  in  awakening  the  public  to  the  import- 
ance of  education,  but  by  collecting  facts  for  the  information 
of  your  honorable  body  and  the  peoj)le.  He  would  associate 
with  all  classes  of  the  community,  from  the  cabin  to  the  man- 
sion— from  the  humble  teacher  of  the  humblest  school  to  the 
most  learned  professor — and  advise  you  of  their  feelings 
and  views.  He  would  note  the  practical  operation  of  the 
system,  and  suggest  for  your  consideration  wherein  it  might 
be  improved.  He  would  (a  matter  of  no  mean  moment  to  the 
success  of  the  common  school  education)  do  much  towards 
bringing  about  a  steady  and  uniform  administration  of  the 
law. 

"Your  memorialists  would  also  suggest  that,  as  a  matter 
of  economy,  a  man  of  established  virtue — of  much  experi- 
ence ;  one  w^ho  is  familiar  with  the  habits  and  feelings  of  our 
people;  a  man  whose  mind  is  well  disciplined — should  be 
placed  at  the  head  of  this  department.  The  interests  involved 
are  so  various,  so  momentous,  that  the  best  mind  in  the  State 
should  be  set  to  watch  over  them.  Should  the  right  sort  of  a 
man  be  selected  and  paid  out  of  the  general  school  fund,  he 
will  save  to  the  general  and  to^\mship  jpunds,  by  looking  after 
their  interests  (aside  from  all  other  benefits  resulting  from 
his  labors),  a  sum  at  least  equal  to  his  salary. 

"Your  memorialists  would  also  suggest,  that  if  any  re- 
gard is  due  to  the  experience  and  example  of  other  states, 
who  have  found  a  superintendent  necessary  to  the  success  of 
their  efforts  in  behalf  of  common  school  education,  you  are 


139 

strongly  urged  thereby  to  appoint  a  superintendent  of  the 
State  of  Illinois."-*'  , 

The  legislature,  however,  passed  no  law  creating  the 
superintendent  of  common  schools.  But  the  Peoria  convention 
of  1844  took  up  the  question  again  with  the  result  that  the 
Secretary  of  State  was  made  ex-officio  state  superintendent 
of  common  schools. 

A  whole  reorganization  of  the  school  system  was  de- 
manded from  the  legislature  by  the  Peoria  meeting.  Discus- 
sions and  reports  were  made  on  the  subjects  of  a  board  of 
education;  a  board  of  county  superintendents;  district  trus- 
tees; school  districts;  town  superintendents;  the  school  fund; 
gradation,  and  taxation. 

On  the  last  point,  the  memorialists  argued  at  great  length 
to  overcome  the  hostility  of  the  legislature  and  the  people 
they  represented,  to  taxation.  Even  if  schools  should  be 
supported  by  taxation,  the  State  was  deeply  in  debt  and  times 
were  hard  because  the  effects  of  the  panic  of  1837  had  not 
passed.  But  the  objection  to  a  tax  for  the  education  of  other 
people's  children  was  natural.  The  following  paragraphs 
illustrated  the  attitude  of  the  Peoria  convention : 

''We  come  now  to  consider  finally,  the  one  great  requisite 
of  the  proposed  plan — taxation.  Each  of  the  other  parts  is 
considered  essential,  yet  they  are  but  the  machinery  to  work 
this  result.  We  come  out  frankly  and  boldly,  and  acknow- 
ledge the  whole  system,  every  effort  is  intended  only  as  a 
means  of  allurement  to  draw  the  people  into  the  grasp  of  this 
most  awful  monster — a  school  tax." 

''But  start  not  back  in  alarm.  After  all  he  may  not  be 
so  terrible  as  some  have  perhaps  imagined.  Used  with  skill 
and  judgment,  and  no  other  power  can  accomplish  what  he 
will;  no  other  can  work  such  changes  in  your  common  schools, 
and  it  is  in  vain  that  we  attempt  to  dispense  with  his  services. 
All  experience  throughout  the  Union  is  in  favor  of  his  em- 
ployment. We  do  not,  however,  propose  coercing  any  to 
employ  him,  who  prefer  to  let  him  alone.  All  we  ask  is  to 
give  those  permission  to  use  him  who  are  so  inclined;  and 
others  when  they  witness  his  subordination,  and  power  to 


*•  state    Supt.    Rep.,    1885-6,    p.    136. 


140 

work  for  the  cause  of  education,  will  doubtless  desire  them- 
selves to  try  his  services" 

'Our  position  is  that  taxation  for  the  support  of  schools 
is  wise  and  just,  that  it  is  in  fact  the  only  method  by  which 
the  deficiency  for  defraying  the  expenses  of  popular  educa- 
tion beyond  that  supplied  by  the  public  funds  can  be  equalized 
amongst  those  who  should  pay  it." 

The  schools  of  the  State,  by  the  law  of  1845,  were  per- 
mitted to  receive  a  tax  for  their  support  provided  it  was 
levied  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  majority  in  any  district.  The 
amount  of  tax,  however,  that  could  be  levied  in  any  way  was 
not  to  exceed  fifteen  cents  on  the  one  hundred  dollars. 

Four  agencies  by  which  the  common  school  was  aided  in 
its  development,  and  in  its  establishment  as  a  free  public  in- 
stitution have  been  discussed.  (1)  Prominent  educational  lead- 
ers were:  most  of  the  governors,  who  were  nobly  assisted  by 
the  untiring  labors  of  Peck;  the  Illinois  College  men;  such 
editors  as  Judge  Hall,  John  S.  Wright,  Charles  E.  Hovey;  the 
missionary  circuit  riders  and  resident  ministers;  state  super- 
intendents; legislators;  state  agents;  and  a  few  nationally 
prominent  men  of  other  states  in  the  persons  of  Jefferson, 
Clinton,  Mann  and  Barnard.  (2)  Many  of  the  newspapers  of 
the  State,  the  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine,  the  Common  School 
Advocate,  the  Prairie  Farmer,  and  the  Illinois  Teacher  were 
the  literary  means  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  common 
schools.  (3)  Institutions  that  increased  the  general  intelligence 
of  the  people  and  created  a  desire  for  better  educational  op- 
portunities were,  the  Ladies'  Aid  Association  for  the  Educa- 
tion of  Females;  workingmen's  organizations,  public  libraries, 
Sunday  schools  and  academies.  (4)  Enthusiasm,  harmony, 
and  cooperation  among  the  friends  of  the  common  school  in 
the  cause  of  general  enlightenment,  were  developed  by  educa- 
tional conventions.  An  ex-officio  state  superintendent  of  com- 
mon schools  was  created  in  the  person  of  the  Secretaiy  of 
State  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Peoria  Convention. 
But  the  legislature  only  conceded  the  right  to  levy  taxes  for 
the  support  of  schools  when  a  two-thirds  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple of  any  district  so  decided.  The  next  chapter  shall  show 
how  the  common  schools  were  made  free,  and  shall  indicate 
what  the  attitude  was  toward  them. 


141 


CHAPTER  XI. 


The  Free  School  Law  of  1855. 

The  friends  of  education  were  not  satisfied  witli  halfway 
measures.  If  districts  were  allowed  to  decide  whether  a  tax 
should  be  voted  for  the  support  of  schools,  there  would  be  few 
free  schools.  As  a  result,  agitation  was  continued  by  educa- 
tional associations  for  the  appointment  of  a  state  superin- 
tendent of  common  schools,  separate  from  the  Secretary  of 
State,  and  a  compulsory  ad  valorem  property  tax.  Accord- 
ingly, the  Chicago  school  convention  in  1846,  resolved,  among 
other  things,  to  make  a  survey  of  the  State  in  order  to  de- 
termine the  qualifications  of  teachers  in  the  service  of  com- 
mon schools,  the  condition  of  schoolhouses,  what  amount  of 
money  was  raised  in  each  district  for  the  support  of  schools, 
what  was  the  attitude  of  the  people  toward  general  property 
tax,  and  what  sum  was  paid  for  tuition  by  subscription.^ 

The  Springfield  Teachers'  Association  in  the  same  year 
took  a  little  different  course.  They  resolved  ' '  that  a  commit- 
tee of  five  be  appointed  to  report  to  the  convention  a  plan  for 
the  organization  of  a  State  Education  Society."^  That  so- 
ciety was  immediately  organized,  and  began  to  create  aux- 
iliaries in  the  counties  of  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  aiding 
common  schools. 

The  discussions  by  members  of  all  the  conventions,  since 
the  first  in  1833,  had  finally  awakened  the  public  to  the  need 
of  a  more  adequate  school  system.  The  people  had  seen  the 
necessity  for  the  revision  of  the  state  constitution  and  had  as- 
sembled in  a  constitutional  convention  in  Springfield  in  1847. 
The  fundamental  law  of  the  State  ought  to  recognize  the  all- 
important  subject  of  a  system  of  education.  Accordingly, 
the  convention  appointed  a  large  representative  committee 

1  Prairie  Farmer,  v.  6,  p.  351. 
» Ibid.,  V.  7,  p.  73. 


142 

to  consider  the  subject.  To  them,  petitions  were  pouring  in, 
chiefly  from  the  newer  counties  of  the  North  and  West,  settled 
by  Easterners.  Kepresented  in  the  list,  were  Livingston, 
Madison,  Cass,  DuPage,  DeKalb,  McLean,  Knox,  Fulton, 
Peoria,  Mason,  Brown,  Winnebago,  Carroll,  Crawford,  Eock 
Island,  Marshall,  Whiteside,  Stephenson,  Pike,  McHenry, 
St.  Clair,  and  Sangamon  counties. 

It  was  but  natural,  therefore,  that  a  resolution  was  intro- 
duced in  the  constitutional  convention  for  the  creation  of  a 
state  superintendent  of  common  schools:  *' Believing  that 
important  measures  are  necessary  to  advance  the  cause  of 
education,  the  basis  of  our  republican  form  of  government, 
and  to  elevate  the  moral  standard  of  common  schools,  the 
only  source  from  which  most  of  our  youth  derive  their  educa- 
tion; therefore.  Resolved,  That  an  article  be  ingrafted  into  our 
state  constitution  creating  the  office  of  state  superintendent 
of  common  schools,  who  shall  be  elected  by  the  people  and 
hold  his  office  for  the  term  of  four  years,  and  until  his  suc- 
cessor is  elected  and  qualified,  and  receive  the  salary  of  $ 

whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  have  the  general  superintendence  of 
common  schools  in  this  state,  and  report  the  conditions  of 
the  same  in  a  manner  and  as  often  as  may  be  required  by 
law."^ 

Next,  a  resolution  was  passed  by  the  convention  which 
provided  for  the  support  of  schools  by  taxation  and  a  super- 
intendent to  make  the  system  effective:  ''Resolved,  That  the 
committee  on  education  be  instructed  to  consider  and  report 
as  to  the  propriety  of  a  constitutional  provision  for  the 
security  of  the  college,  seminary,  and  common  school  funds 
from  conversion  or  destruction  by  the  legislature.  Also,  for 
the  establishment  of  a  system  of  common  schools  as  well,  by 
taxation  combined  with  state  funds,  afford  the  means  of  edu- 
cation to  every  child  in  the  state,  and  the  appointment  of  a 
state  superintendent,  with  an  adequate  salary,  to  give  effect 
to  such  system. ' '  * 

Whereupon,  the  educational  committee  of  the  constitu- 
tional convention  introduced  a  bill,  which  passed  the  first 
reading,  and  which  should  become  a  part  of  the .  organic  law 
of  the  State.    By  this,  the  legislature  should  create  a  free,  uni- 

sjr.  Const.  Conv..  p.  31. 
♦Ibid.,  p.  78. 


143 

versal  system  of  common  schools,  at  tlie  head  of  which  should 
be  a  state  superintendent,  appointed  by  the  governor  for  a 
term  of  two  years. 

''Sec.  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly 
to  provide  for  a  system  of  common  schools,  which  shall  be  as 
nearly  uniform  as  may  be  throui>-hout  the  State,  and  such 
common  schools  shall  be  equally  free  to  all  the  children  in  the 
State,  and  no  sectarian  instruction  shall  be  permitted  in  any 
of  them. "  ^ 

''Sec.  4.  The  superintendency  of  public  instruction  in 
this  State  shall  be  vested  in  an  officer  to  be  styled  'the  super- 
intendent of  common  schools,'  and  such  county  and  local 
superintendents  as  may  be  established  by  law. ' '  ^ 

"Sec.  5.  At  the  first  session  of  the  General  Assembly 
after  the  adoption  of  this  constitution  and  biennially  there- 
after, it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  governor,  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  senate  (a  majority  of  all  members 
elected  thereto  concurring  therein),  to  appoint  a  superin- 
tendent of  common  schools,  who  shall  hold  his  office  for  the 
term  of  two  years  and  shall  perform  such  duties  and  receive 
such  salary  as  the  General  Assembly  shall  prescribe."  ° 

After  so  much  discussion  in  the  constitutional  convention 
of  the  establishment  of  a  free  school  system  with  its  proper 
officers,  the  constitution  of  1847  is  singularly  silent  on  educa- 
tional provisions. 

Nevertheless,  the  common  school  leaders  in  the  State 
kept  right  on  trying  "to  erect  upon  a  permanent  basis  a 
plain,  practical  system  of  Free  Common  Schools.  The  great 
fundamental  principle  of  this  action  should  be,  that  our 
schools  be  free  to  every  child  (native  or  adopted)  in  Illinois, 
free  as  the  genial  showers  and  sunshine  of  heaven. '  '^ 

The  State  Educational  Society  authorized  the  publication 
of  a  magazine,  the  Illinois  Teacher,  devoted  to  the  cause  of 
common  schools  and  resolved,  "That  the  property  of  the  State 
should  be  taxed  to  educate  the  children  of  the  State.  "^ 

The  same  attitude  toward  taxation  was  shown  by  some 
of  the  educational  associations  of  the  northern  and  western 

°  Jr.  Const.  Conv.,  p.  352. 

« Jr.   Const-   Conv.,  p.   352. 

'  State   Supt.   Rep.,   1885-86.   p.   166. 

*  Prairie  Farmer,  v.  8,  p.  81. 


144 

counties,  a  typical  resolution  from  which  is  this:  ''Resolved, 
That  Common  Schools  should  be  free  to  all,  both  black  and 
white,  and  bein^  thus  free  and  accessible  to  the  poor  as  well 
as  the  rich,  neither  rich  nor  poor  should  be  allowed  to  de- 
prive their  children  of  the  means  of  a  Good  Common  School 
Education."^ 

Of  course,  the  common,  though  true  and  sincere,  argu- 
ments advanced,  were  that  free  institutions  could  only  suc- 
ceed by  free  schools.  "That  the  whole  people,  without  dis- 
tinction of  age,  sex,  or  condition,  shall  have  unrestrained 
access  to  the  fountains  of  public  instruction,  in  order  that 
our  free  institutions  may  be  transmitted  to  posterity  in  unde- 
cayed  magnificence. ' '  ^" 

Infrequently  a  moral  persuasion  for  the  necessity  of 
educating  the  children  said,  "it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  to 
educate  every  child  in  it.  There  could  not  be  a  more  rational, 
patriotic  or  benevolent  expenditure  of  wealth  than  in  the 
holy  cause  of  education,  and  thus  the  moral  improvement  of 
our  population. ^^ 

Governor  French,  who  had  been  ex-officio  state  superin- 
tendent, asked  the  legislature  to  repeal  all  school  laws  and 
start  anew  with  a  simple  system  of  education  supported  by 
tax  on  property,  and  made  free  to  all  children  alike.  "I  desire 
to  see  a  system  by  which  every  child,  whatever  its  condition 
or  parentage,  may  have  an  opportunity  to  obtain  an  education 
equal  with  the  most  affluent  of  our  state — such  as  will  fit 
them  for  any  grade  or  condition  of  life. ' '  ^- 

Governor  Matteson,  following  Governor  French  in 
office,  made  a  somewhat  similar  statement:  "Intelli- 
gence gives  to  the  country  happiness  at  home  and  re- 
spect abroad  *  *  *.  Why  not  open  its  portals  wide  and 
make  its  benefits  universal?  *  *  *  I  now  repeat  that 
the  laws  in  relation  to  schools  be  repealed,  and  that  in 
the  place  of  them  a  simple  law  be  passed — by  which  a 
general  system  of  schools  shall  be  established,  and  main- 
tained entirely  by  levies  (so  far  as  the  school  fund  shall 
be  insufficient)  upon  property  open  and  free  to  every  child 
within  the  borders  of  the  state.     This  recommendation  con- 

•  Prairie  Farmer,  vol.  8,  p.  335. 

"Ibid.,  p.  221. 

"  Sang-amo  Jr.,  July  20,  1847. 

"  Sen.  and  House  Rep.,  1853,  p.  8, 


145 

templates  a  system  of  instruction  of  a  character  sufficiently 
elevated  to  fit  every  child  for  every  rank  and  station  in 

life  ' '  '^ 

The  legislature  though  unready  to  inaugurate  those 
ideas  into  laws  immediately,  did  create  a  separate  department 
of  public  instruction.  With  a  capable  man  as  state  superin- 
tendent, it  was  thought  that  the  cause  of  the  common  schools 
would  be  advanced  most  rapidly.  A  brighter  day  for  educa- 
tion was  at  hand.  Governor  Matteson,  in  1854,  appointed  Nm- 
ian  W.  Edwards,  son  of  the  first  territorial  governor  ot  Illi- 
nois and  a  man  who  had  held  the  office  of  attorney  general  and 
been  a  member  of  the  state  legislature  for  sLxteen  years,  the 
first  state  superintendent.^^*^  Mr.  Edwards  was  charged  with 
the  duty  of  reporting  "a  bill  to  the  next  regular  session  ot 
the  General  Assembly,  for  a  system  of  free  school  education 
throughout  the  State,  and  the  manner  for  the  support  ot 
which  system  to  be  provided  for  by  a  uniform  ad  valorem 
tax  upon  property,  to  be  assessed  and  collected  as  other  state 
and  county  revenue  is  assessed  and  collected."  '* 

Mr.  Edwards,  complying  with  the  request  of  the  legisla- 
ture, reported  a  thoroughly  comprehensive  bill  with  the  rea- 
sons' for  its  passage.  The  bill  provided  for  the  election  and 
duties  of  the  state  superintendent ;  the  election  and  duties  of 
school  commissioners;  the  election,  duties  and  powers  of 
towmship  boards  of  education;  judgments  and  executions 
against  school  boards;  the  examination,  quahfication  and 
duties  of  teachers;  school  libraries;  township  and  county 
school  funds ;  common  school  funds,  and  additional  taxes  for 
the  support  of  schools. 

The  legislature  accepted  the  bill  but  made  some  modihca- 
tions  by  keeping  the  district  system,  which  had  been  excluded, 
and  by'imposing  a  state  tax  for  education.  The  tax  amounted 
to  two  mills  on  the  dollar,  and  was  added  in  the  distribution 
to  other  funds  which,  made  up  the  common  school  fund 
''The  common  school  fund  of  this  state  shall  consist  of  such 
sums  as  will  be  produced  by  an  annual  lev\^  and  assessment 
of  tw^o  mills  upon  each  dollar's  valuation  of  all  taxable  pro- 

"  Prairie  Farmer,   1854,   p.   102.  .       «         ^.  o,.r^^^^^^^T,HoTlt 

"a  The  legislature  enacted  a  law  creating  a. separate  office  of  Superintendent 

of  common  schools   in   1854.      It   made   it   the   immediate   duty   of   the   governor 

to  fill  the  office  until  the  November  election  of  1855 
"State  Supt.  Rep.,  1885-86.  p.  190. 


146 

perty  in  the  state,  and  there  is  hereby  levied  and  assessed 
annually,  in  addition  to  the  revenue  for  state  purposes,  the 
said  two  mills  upon  each  dollar's  valuation  of  all  the  taxable 
propert}^  in  the  state,  to  be  collected  and  paid  as  other  revenue 
is  collected  and  paid",  etc.^^ 

In  the  next  place,  the  law  of  1855  made  it  mandatory  that 
the  trustees  of  both  to^^^lships  and  local  districts  should  le^^ 
a  tax  to  supplement  the  distributable  fund  of  the  State.  At 
least  one  free  school  in  every  district  should  be  established 
and  kept  in  operation  six  months  out  of  each  year.  In  addi- 
tion, "for  the  purpose  of  erecting  schoolhouses,  or  purchas- 
ing schoolhouse  sites,  or  for  the  repairing  and  improving  the 
same,  for  procuring  furniture,  fuel  and  district  libraries,  the 
board  of  education  of  any  district  shall  be  authorized  to  have 
levied  and  collected  a  tax  annuallv  on  all  property  in  their 
district.  "^«  ^      _  ■        _ 

It  seemed  that  there  was  some  misunderstanding,  inten- 
tional or  otherw^ise,  over  the  purposes  for  which  a  tax  could 
be  levied.  Hence  the  law  of  1859  restated  that  provision 
more  specifically.  "For  the  purpose  of  establishing  and 
supporting  free  schools  for  six  months,  and  defraying  all 
expenses  of  the  same,  of  every  description;  for  the  purpose 
of  repairing  and  improving  schoolhouses;  of  procuring  fur- 
niture, fuel,  libraries  and  apparatus,  and  for  all  other  neces- 
sary incidental  expenses,  the  directors  of  each  district  shall 
be  authorized  to  levy  a  tax,  annually,  upon  all  the  taxable 
property  of  the  district.  They  may  also  appropriate  to  the 
purchase  of  libraries  and  apparatus,  any  surplus  funds,  after 
all  necessary  school  expenses  are  paid."  " 

Since  there  was  a  fund  to  be  distributed  to  the  common 
schools  by  the  state,  provision  was  made  in  the  law  to  base 
two-thirds  of  the  distribution  on  the  number  of  white  children 
in  each  county  between  five  and  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and 
one-third  on  the  number  of  to^vnships  or  parts  of  to\^^lships 
in  each  county.  "On  the  first  Monday  in  June,  in  each  and 
every  year,  next  after  taking  the  census  of  the  state,  the 
auditor  of  public  accounts  shall,  under  the  supervision  of  the 
commissioners  of  the  school  fund  of  the  state,  ascertain  the 


"Sess.  Laws,  1855,  Sec.  67,  p.  77. 
"Sess.  Laws,  1S55.  Sec.  71,  p.  78. 
"  ni.  Teach.,  v.  5,  p.  3  of  Circular  of  State  Supt. 


147 

number  of  white  children  in  each  county  in  the  state,  under 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  shall  thereupon  make  a  dividend 
to  each  county  of  two-thirds  the  sum  from  the  tax  levied  and 
collected;  and  the  interest  due  on  the  school,  seminary  and 
college  fund,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  white  children 
in  each  county  under  the  age  aforesaid,  and  of  the  remaining 
one-third,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  townships  and  parts 
of  townships  in  each  county. ' '  ^^ 

Finally,  the  money  due  the  to^^mships  should  be  distri- 
buted ' '  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  days  certified  on  such 
schedules  respectively  to  have  been  taught  since  the  last 
regular  return  day  fixed  by  the  act  or  trustees  for  the  return 
of  schedules."  ^^ 

The  greatest  objections  to  the  free  school  law,  which 
taxed  property  for  the  support  of  education,  were  obviated 
by  the  method  of  distributing  the  state  school  fund.  The  more 
thickly  populated  sections  benefited  by  the  distribution  on 
the  number  of  children  under  twenty-one  years  of  age.  The 
sparser  districts  were  helped  by  the  distribution  on  the  num- 
ber of  townships  or  fractions  thereof  per  county.  Moreover, 
the  richer  sections,  which  might  also  have  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  minors,  paid  the  biggest  share  of  the  tax.  Cook  county 
paid  out  $65,150.31,  and  received  $29,  185.02,  while  William- 
son county  paid  out  $1,737.04,  and  received  $4,917.25.""=^  It  is 
easily  seen,  therefore,  that  the  state  tax  distribution  method 
was  a  powerful  argaiment  that  carried  in  poorer  sections 
where  other  reasons  failed.  The  principle  of  distributing 
state  money,  collected  from  the  richer  sections,  to  help  poorer 
districts  was  first  used  after  1855. 

The  Attitude  to  the  Free  Schools. 

Quite  frequently  the  attitude  to  the  common  schools  be- 
came one  of  defense  for,  or  objection  to  the  private 
academies  and  select  schools.  Occasionally,  the  semi-public 
academies  were  included  in  the  condemnation.  The  struggle 
concerned  itself,  therefore,  for  the  supremacy  of  one  system 
of  education  over  another.  Should  leaders  in  society,  and 
they  alone  from  the  wealthy  people,  be  educated  by  the  acad- 

i«Sess.   Laws,  1855,   Sec.  69,  p.  78. 
'9  Ibid.,   Sec.   36,  p.   61. 

"«  Sangamon  county  paid  out   $2-3,440.75,  and  received  .?12,412.82.      See  Audi- 
tor's Report  for  1855-6.  p.  35-6. 


148 

emies,  thus  leaving  the  poor  people  to  shift  for  themselves? 
Or,  should  the  State  adopt  a  system  of  free  education  espe- 
cially favorable  to  the  common  man?  It  did  adopt  such  a 
system  in  1855,  with  the  result  that  its  friends  began  to  sing 
its  praises.  The  virtues  usually  found  were  superior  in  the 
common  schools,  inferior  in  the  academies. 

First  and  pre-eminent,  were  the  arguments  from  demo- 
cracy. The  children  of  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  high  and  the 
low,  were  all  on  the  same  level  in  the  common  schools.  Ee- 
wards  and  punishments,  success  and  failure  came  as  a  result 
of  individual  merit  rather  than  distinction  from  wealth  and 
parentage.  In  the  light  of  our  republican  institutions,  pri- 
vate schools  were  a  failure.  ''They  were  the  nurseries  of 
aristocracy ;  not  the  aristocracy  which  despises  the  poor  man 
because  he  is  poor — which  calls  men  of  moderate  means,  small 
fisted  farmers,  greasy  mechanics,  and  filthy  operators,  unfit 
to  associate  wdth  well-bred  gentlemen,  and  says  free  society 
is  a  failure,  which  threatens  the  overthrow  of  republicanism, 
and  is  hard  upon  our  free  schools : "  ^^ 

Private  schools,  pushed  to  their  logical  conclusions, 
would  divide  the  American  people  into  classes  entirely  con- 
trary to  our  traditions.  Not  only  would  the  rich  and  poor 
be  separated,  but  "there  must  be  schools  to  represent  particu- 
lar nationalities  and  particular  forms  of  belief.  And  this 
would  perpetuate  national  peculiarities,  and  embitter  reli- 
gious prejudices  and  beget  a  clannish  spirit,  and  divide  society 
more  and  more  into  parties  estranged  and  hostile  to  each 
other,  when  every  effort  should  be  bound  together  by  friendly 
intercourse  in  universal  sjonpathj^  and  concord.  And  I  know 
of  no  minor  agency  to  affect  this  than  a  well  devised  and  well 
sustained  system  of  common  public  schools. ' '  ^^ 

In  the  common  schools  "and  the  humbler  w^alks  of  life, 
where  talent  is  oftenest  found,  the  gifted  and  good — educate 
and  qualify  themselves  for  the  responsible  positions  in 
life."'' 

Common  schools,  universally  established,  would  enable 
parents,  "to  educate  their  children  at  home,  where  they  can 
counsel  with  the  teacher  in  the  formation  of  the  child 's  char- 


a»Ill.   Teach.,   v.  4,   p.   78. 
"Ibid.,  p.   87. 
«Ibid.,  p.  79. 


149 

acter,  and  where  they  can  detect  and  check  those  tendencies 
to  evil  to  which  most  children  are  prone."  -^ 

Besides,  private  schools  and  academies  were  located 
where  they  were  least  needed.  ''The  private  school  system 
will  never  plant  schools  where  they  are  needed  to  meet  the 
wants  of  the  entire  community.  Hence  some,  nay,  many 
would  under  it  be  excluded  from  all  school  privileges  by  loca- 
tion. Teachers  will  of  course  choose  to  establish  schools  only 
in  dense  and  wealthy  communities,  where  good  compensation 
will  be  assured  to  them,  and  the  poorer  and  more  sparsely 
settled  sections  of  the  country  will  be  left  altogether  unsup- 
plied."'-' 

Even  though  academies  were  rightly  located,  ''they  are 
too  expensive  for  general  use.  Teachers  must  live;  and  pri- 
vate schools  must  charge  a  rate  of  tuition  per  scholar  which 
will  support  the  teacher  or  teachers,  and  afford  a  superior 
income  sufficient  to  pay  rent  for  buildings  and  fixtures,  and 
this  will  make  education  much  more  expensive  to  scholars 
than  when  the  property  is  taxed  to  support  the  schools  of 
the  district.  And  especially  does  this  private  school  system 
press  heavily  upon  those  in  the  community  who  are  rich  only 
in  mouths  to  be  filled,  backs  and  feet  to  be  covered,  and  bills 
to  be  paid.  Multitudes  of  children  must  remain  untaught  if 
only  this  system  be  in  operation  among  us."  '^ 

Finally,  the  private  school  teacher  sacrificed  efficiency 
for  popularity  with  pupils,  which  meant  popularity  with  the 
parents.  Some  thought  that  popularity  was  incompatible 
with  the  proper  handling  of  pupils,  because  the  only  concern 
of  the  teacher  should  be  to  know  and  do  his  duty.  Wealth 
ought  not  make  any  difference  in  the  children's  school  privi- 
leges. But  common  school  pupils  paid  only  thirty  dollars, 
where  academic  pupils  paid  ninety  dollars  for  instruction. 

However,  it  was  recognized  that  the  academy  had  some 
advantages.     (1)  "The  teachers  in  the  private  schools,  as  a 
class,  are  superior  in  natural  endowments  and  scientific  at- 
tainments to  the  teachers  in  the  public  schools.    They  must 
be  so  to  sustain  themselves.    No  private  school  with  inferior 
teachers  at  its  head  ever  had  more  than  an  ephemeral  exist- 
ence;  while  nine-tenths  of  the  public  schools,  taking  the  coun- 
ts m.  Teach.,  p.  80. 
s^Ibid.,  p.   87. 
»Ibld.,  p.  86. 


150 

try  through,  are  supplied  with  teachers  of  an  inferior  grade, 
unfit  to  be  trusted  with  the  molding  of  immortal  minds. ' '  *'' 
(2)  The  equipment  and  apparatus  was  far  superior  in  the 
academies.  (3)  The  academies  had  a  more  enriched  curri- 
culum while  public  school  education  was  "confined  to  the 
intellect  at  the  expense  of  manners,  morals,  and  the  organic 
structure.  Better  no  education,  than  such  education.  It  only 
tends  to  make  rogues."" 

It  is  evident  therefore,  that  the  State  was  divided  into 
two  groups,  the  one  favoring  public  schools,  the  other  acad- 
emies. The  south,  generally,  wanted  to  be  left  alone  with 
its  original  class  system  of  education.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
north  wanted  to  impose  its  common  school  system  on  all  alike, 
the  State  over.  The  attitude  of  the  two  sections  can  be  clearly 
obtained  by  studying  the  literature  of  each  of  the  two  groups. 
Many  times  the  south  was  bitterly  opposed  to  the  common 
school,  while  the  north  eulogized  it. 

"We  have  got  to  hating  everything  with  the  prefix  free, 
from  free  negroes  up  and  do\\Ti  through  the  whole  catalogues 
— free  farms,  free  labor,  free  society,  free  will,  free  thinking, 
free  children,  and  free  schools — all  belonging  to  the  same 
brood  of  damnable  isms ;  but  the  worst  of  all  these  abomina- 
tions is  the  modern  system  of  free  schools.  We  abominate 
the  system  because  the  schools  are  free.""^ 

The  other  attitude  follows :  ' '  We  dedicate  it  to  freedom ; 
to  humanity ;  to  advancing  civilization  of  the  ages ;  to  an 
ever  onward,  ever  upward,  and  ever  glorious  career  of  con- 
joined knowledge  and  industry,  science  and  art,  justice  and 
humanity.  In  a  word,  we  dedicate  it  to  the  human  race,  to 
Christ,  and  to  God,  to  the  truth  they  enjoin,  the  beneficence 
they  inspire,  and  the  glory  they  impart ;  and  should  any  ever 
in  the  future  attempt  to  divert  or  hinder  it  from  these  great 
ends,  this  glorious  career,  we  this  day  pray  that  their  hands 
and  their  tongues  may  become  palsied  and  powerless ;  that  its 
beams  and  rafters  may  cry  out  against  them,  and  its  very 
bricks  and  stones  confront  and  repel  them;  and  that,  ever 
guarding  its  own  vestal  fire  within,  it  may  throw  far  abroad 
the  radiance  of  its  own  light — resplendent  and  beneficient  to 

"111.  Teach.,  v.  4,  p.  77. 
"  Ibid. 
=»Ibid.,  p.  79. 


151 

all  on  earth — accepted  and  blessed  by  all  in  Heaven;  and 
that  from  age  to  age  the  zephyrs  may  still  waft  the  sweet 
music  of  its  love  over  the  green  grass  where  its  founders  rest 
as  successive  generations  of  youthful  voices  arises  to  call 
them  the  blessed  of  the  Lord."^^ 

Ex-Gov.  Reynolds,  at  this  time,  Avrote  a  little  book  urging 
the  people  of  the  south  to  accept  the  free  school  law.  The 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  through  the  Dred  Scot 
Decision,  and  the  birth  of  the  Republican  party  kindled  anew 
the  sectional  feeling.  So  it  is  doubtful  whether  his  book  had 
a  wide  circulation  and  much  influence  in  the  interests  of  free 
education  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State. 

S.  W.  Moulton,  who  managed  the  free  school  law  in  the 
legislature,  spoke  of  it,  about  the  time  Reynolds  wrote  his 
book,  as  having  aroused  the  people  from  apathy  because  their 
interest  lay  where  their  money  was  spent.  The  property  tax 
led,  therefore,  to  suggestions  and  improvements  in  the  law 
that  could  not  be  foreseen  until  experience  was  obtained  by 
practice. 

Since  there  were  two  extreme  beliefs  over  the  free  school 
bill  depicted,  and  since  it  appears  that  the  opposition  was 
connected  with  slavery,  and  in  justice  to  both  the  North  and 
the  South,  it  would  be  in  order  to  state  from  the  evidence 
which  we  have  Avhat  each  section  contributed  and  what  its 
attitude  has  been  to  education. 

The  academy  was  supported  alike  by  both  sections,  it 
having  been  first  introduced  by  the  South  because  southerners 
settled  Illinois  first.  Though  it  operated  in  both  sections  for 
the  education  of  leaders,  the  children  of  the  poor  were  to  be 
educated  gratis,  and  a  common  school  department  for  the 
"public"  was  usually  attached.  Manual  labor  was  adopted 
principally  to  make  it  economically  possible  for  the  less 
wealthy  to  receive  an  education. 

The  apprentice  laws  were  of  southern  origin,  and  the 
indentures  were  usually  those  of  negroes  or  mulattoes.  The 
explanation  of  the  introduction  of  the  apprenticeship  system 
by  the  way  of  the  South  instead  of  the  North  lies  in  the  fact 
that  the  northerner  did  not  come  until  only  the  vestiges  of 
indentures  remained  in  the  older  eastern  states;  while  the 


»I11.  Teach.,  v.  4,  p.  185. 


152 

»■ 

southern  immigration  took  place  at  an  earlier  time  wlien  the 
apprenticeship  system  was  a  little  more  common. 

To  the  South  should  be  attributed  the  enactment  of  the 
first  free  school  law  in  1825.  The  poor  and  ignorant  for 
whom  it  was  especially  designed  to  benefit  objected  because 
they  did  not  understand  its  benefits  and  could  not  pay  the 
necessary  tax  for  the  support  of  schools.  The  South  was 
wholly  to  blame  for  the  repeal  of  the  law. 

Again,  the  South  forged  to  the  front  in  the  proposed  leg- 
islation for  free  schools,  and  county  normal  schools  which 
were  to  be  supported  as  the  academies  were  in  Kentucky  and 
Virginia,  but  these  plans  were  finally  rejected  by  a  legislature 
whose  majority  consisted  of  representatives  from  the  older 
southern  counties  in  Illinois. 

The  adoption  of  the  recortimendation  of  the  representa- 
tive leaders  from  both  sections  for  a  state  superintendent  of 
common  schools  failed,  but  the  office  was  vested  ex-officio  in 
that  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  This  was  probably  patterned 
after  the  Pennsylvania  type.^" 

However,  the  resolutions,  recommendations  and  petitions 
for  a  separate  state  superintendent  came  almost  exclusively 
from  the  newer  counties  of  the  northern  and  western  sections 
which  were  settled  by  New  Englanders  and  easterners. ^^ 

The  growth  of  the  question  of  taxation  is  illustrative  of 
the  attitude  of  northern  and  southern  Illinois  toward  free 
schools.  The  legislature,  besides  granting  the  right  of  taxa- 
tion for  school  purposes  in  a  few  city  charters,  passed  a  gen- 
eral law  in  1845  which  allowed  communities  to  levy  a  pro- 
perty tax  by  a  two-thirds  majority  vote  for  school  purposes. 
The  taxing  clause  was  changed  in  1848  to  a  majority  vote. 

The  first  report,  issued  in  1849,  which  dealt  with  an  ad 
valorem  property  tax  for  schools,  showed  that  $29,947.46  was 
voluntarily  levied  by  the  people.  Thirty  of  the  counties  levy- 
ing such  tax  were  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  while  six 
were  in  the  southern  part.  In  1852,  $51,101.14  were  likewise 
voluntarily  levied  by  forty-three  counties,  thirty-six  of  which 
were  northern  and  seven  southern.    Of  the  twentv-six  coun- 


«" Assembly  Reports,   1844,   p.    103. 

**  Assembly  Reports,  1S46,   1849,   1851,  1853.  Jr.  Const.   Con.,   1847. 


153 

ties  that  did  not  le\"y  a  tax,  eighteen  were  southern  and  eight 
northern  counties.^" 

In  the  senate,  the  free  school  bill  of  1855  passed  by  a  vote 
of  20  to  3,  and  in  the  house,  47  to  14.  An  analysis  of  the  vote 
relative  to  the  section  from  which  the  representatives  came 
shows  that  most  of  the  opposition  was  in  the  southern  tier 
of  counties  stretching  to  the  east  and  southeast  of  St.  Louis 
across  the  State. 

Q^herefore,  it  is  evident  that  the  opposition  to  the  idea 
of  free  education  came  from  the  old  southern  portion  of  the 
State.  This  probably  was  not  due  to  the  fact  that  these  people 
were  southern  in  origin  for  such  leaders  as  Coles,  Duncan  and 
Edwards,  always  champions  of  free  schools,  migrated  to  Illi- 
nois from  the  South;  but  rather  the  opposition  finds  its  ex- 
planation in  the  fact  that  the  southern  districts  were  econ- 
omically much  less  able  to  support  free  schools  than  the  fer- 
tile and  commercial  northern  sections. 

Before  discussing  the  beginnings  and  characteristics  of 
the  high  school,  a  summary  of  the  free  school  law  of  1855  fol- 
lovv^s.  The  constitutional  convention  of  1847  accepted  the 
first  reading  of  a  bill  which  provided  for  a  free  system  of 
public  schools,  and  a  state  superintendent  to  give  the  pro- 
posal effect,  but  the  convention  omitted  all  mention  of  free 
schools  in  the  final  draft  of  the  constitution.  However,  the 
leaders,  associations  and  editors  continued  to  agitate  the 
same  question  until  the  legislature  authorized  the  separation 
of  the  Department  of  State  and  the  schools.  It  also  author- 
ized the  appointment  of  a  state  superintendent  and  required 
that  he  prepare  a  bill  for  the  reorganization  of  a  school 
system,  which  bill  was  adopted  in  1855.  A  state  tax  of  two 
mills  was  levied  on  every  dollar  of  property  and  the  income 
added  to  the  annual  distribution  of  the  common  school  fund; 
a  local  tax  was  levied  by  the  trustees  of  both  township  and 
district  to  help  maintain  at  least  one  free  school  in  every 
district  for  six  months  in  the  year.  The  state  common  school 
fund  was  distributed  in  such  a  manner  that  two-thirds  was 
given  to  the  county  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  white  chil- 
dren between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one  years,  and  the 
remaining  one-third  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  townships, 

*=  Assembly  Reports,   1849,   p.   116;   1853,    p.   149. 


154 

or  parts  of  townships  in  each  county.  The  money  due  the 
townships  was  to  be  distributed  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  days  of  school  that  were  actually  taught. 

The  method  of  distribution  of  the  state  school  fund, 
which  benefited  the  poorer  sections  as  well  as  the  richer  dis- 
tricts was  a  powerful  argument  in  favor  of  free  schools. 
They  were  democratic;  they  were  the  means  by  which  chil- 
dren could  be  educated  at  home ;  they  were  located  where  they 
were  needed ;  they  were  inexpensive.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
successful  academies  had  superior  teachers;  they  were  better 
equipped;  they  had  more  extensive  subjects  of  study.  Thus 
two  sharply  defined  groups  existed  in  the  State;  the  one 
favored  the  common  school,  the  other  favored  the  academy. 
At  one  extreme,  the  free  school  was  placed  in  a  class  with 
free  negroes ;  at  the  other,  it  was  eulogized.  How  the  common 
school  supplied  some  of  the  secondary  education  of  the  time 
follows. 


155 


CHAPTEE  XII. 


The  Beginnings  and  Characteristics  of  the  Free  Public  High 

School  of  1860. 

The  high  school  as  a  separate  institution  was  not  usually 
so  designated,  and  thought  of,  until  quite  a  while  after  the 
passage  of  the  free  school  law  of  1855.  The  academy  had 
long  been  the  means  of  secondary  education,  but  the  common 
school  had  even  before  1850  begun  to  usurp  the  province  of 
the  former  institution.  The  academy  was  the  chief  means  of 
providing  education  for  the  aristocracy  of  society.  The 
common  people  had  no  way  to  gain  similar  advantages  for 
their  children.  The  academy  was  open  to  them,  but  tuition 
charges,  the  cost  of  sending  children  to  live  away  from  home 
combined  with  the  inaccessibility  of  the  academy,  kept  the 
common  children  at  home.  But  the  working  men  were  imbued 
with  high  ideals.  Their  children  must  have  advantages  pro- 
vided that  the  parents  missed.  The  common  school  was  the 
only  way  open.  That  humble  institution  struggled  along  until 
we  see  it  occupying  the  center  of  the  stage  of  political  and 
educational  thought.  Though  it  was  called  the  common 
school,  by  1860  it  came  to  mean  both  the  elementary  school 
and  the  high  school.  **The  high  school  and  the  common  school 
are  part  of  the  same  system.  The  one  is  the  head,  the  other 
the  heart.    One   is  the  branches,  the  other  the  root. ' '  ^ 

One  of  the  chief  ways  by  which  the  high  school  came  to 
be  the  upper  part  of  the  common  school  system  was  through 
gradation.  The  very  first  mention  of  that  idea,  applied  to 
the  common  schools,  was  the  suggestion  of  that  subject  in  an 
article  for  contribution  to  the  Common  School  Advocate,  in 
1837.  A  year  later,  the  Sangamo  Journal  printed  an  article 
on  the  system  of  schools  in  the  State  in  which  gradation  was 
suggested. 

>I11.  Teach.,  v.  8,  p.   49. 


156 

*'In  addition  to  the  primary  schools  *  *  *  we  must  have 
academies  or  high  schools  and  colleges.  The  first  finishing 
the  education  of  many  of  its  students  whose  means  will  not 
permit  them  to  pursue  it  farther,  and  only  the  more  thorough- 
ly preparing  others  to  enter  the  second,  where  alone  their 
scholastic  pursuits  can  be  closed."  ^ 

The  Prairie  Farmer  in  1844  advocated  the  establishment 
of  a  school  system  with  three  departments,  because  it  depre- 
cated the  growing  influence  of  the  academies.  ''And  what 
shall  be  the  remedy?  We  do  not  expect  a  community  justly 
appreciating  education,  and  desirous  of  affording  to  their 
children  the  means  of  procuring  the  higher  branches,  will 
rest  passive  with  inferior  schools,  neither  would  we  desire 
any  such  lowering  of  the  standard  of  education.  But  instead 
of  creating  independent  select  schools,  we  would  have  a  plan 
something  after  this  sort  adopted.  In  the  first  place,  the 
district  should  be  large,  and  as  the  school  increased,  instead 
of  dividing  districts,  sending  large  and  small  children  to  the 
same  school,  the  school  should  be  divided,  classifying  the 
scholars  according  to  their  progress.  Where  the  number  of 
scholars  would  admit  of  it,  there  should  be  at  least  tbree 
grades  of  schools.  For  the  small  children,  say  under  ten 
years  of  age,  female  teachers  should  be  employed,  and  the 
schools  should  be  as  numerous  as  possible,  to  facilitate  attend- 
ance. For  the  next  grade,  the  instruction  and  number  of 
schools  should  depend  upon  circumstances.  For  the  highest 
grade,  there  should  be  but  one  school  within  a  circuit  of  at 
least  three  miles  diameter,  no  matter  how  thickly  settled  the 
to^^Ti  if  under  ten  or  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants,  and  gen- 
erally there  should  be  but  one  such  school  to  a  township,  and 
occasionally  but  one  in  a  county. ' '  ^ 

Next,  educational  conventions  discussed  the  merits  of 
gradation  and  advocated  the  adoption  of  such  a  scheme  in 
their  resolutions.  "Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  recom- 
mended to  school  officers  to  establish  such  a  classification 
of  studies  and  gradation  of  schools  as  will  prevent  the  great 
waste  of  time,  effort,  and  money,  to  which  our  schools  are  now 
subject;  and  that  experience  proves  the  feasibility  and  profit 
of  the  following  system  of  gradation : ' ' 

«San.  Jr..  Apr.  21,  1838. 
•State  Supt.  Rep.,   1885,  p.  160. 


157 

First.  Primary  schools,  in  wliich  as  many  of  the  young- 
est pupils  shall  be  taught  in  the  full  rudiments  of  education 
as  one  female  teacher  can  instruct. ' ' 

'Second.  Grammar  schools,  both  male  and  female,  in 
which  the  elementary  and  common  English  studies  shall  be 
pursued,  viz.  — Geography,  Written  Arithmetic,  Grammar, 
Reading,  Spelling,  and  Writing;  the  number  of  these  schools 
being  smaller  and  the  number  of  pupils  larger  than  the  lower 
grade". 

"Third.  One  high  school  for  each  large  town  or  city, 
in  which  the  higher  English  branches  and  Languages  shall  be 
taught;  the  pupils  to  be  admitted  by  examination  from  the 
Grammar  schools,  and  those  of  Grammar  schools  in  the  same 
manner  from  the  Primary  schools."  * 

From  the  above  typical  citations,  the  first  scheme  of 
gradation  included  three  departments,  namely,  primary, 
grammar,  and  high.  Now,  a  territorial  basis  was  also  neces- 
sary. More  primary  than  grammar  schools  should  be  estab- 
lished, and  one  higher  department  serving  for  many  of  the 
others.  To  carry  out  that  idea,  the  policy  of  joining  districts 
grew  up,  and  the  name,  union,  or  union  graded  schools,  be- 
came somewhat  common. 

The  idea  of  establishing  union  districts  by  law  was  slow 
in  developing.  The  law  of  1825  provided  that  there  should 
be  at  least  fifteen  families  in  a  school  district,  but  the  amend- 
ment of  1827  said  that  there  must  be  at  least  eighteen  children 
going  to  school  or  subscribed,  and  the  amendment  in  1829 
made  the  size  of  a  district  a  purely  voluntary  affair.  The 
legislature,  in  1841,  provided  for  the  appointment  of  township 
trustees  who  were  to  establish  districts  within  the  to^vnship 
as  suited  the  convenience  and  wishes  of  the  people ;  as  many 
schools  could  be  kept  in  a  district  as  the  people  desired.  Six 
years  later  an  additional  amendment  provided,  ''that  dis- 
tricts may  be  altered  at  any  time  by  said  trustees  to  suit  the 
wishes  of  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  districts  inter- 
ested,"^ and  that  children  might  be  transferred  from  one  dist- 
rict to  another.  By  1853,  the  practice  of  creating  union  dist- 
ricts had  grown  considerably  so  that  the  legislature  occa- 
sionally legalized  the  action  of  some  directors : 

*  Prairie  Farmer,  v.  8,  p.  273. 

»  Sess.  Laws,  1847,  p.  130,  sec.  46. 


158 

*'Sec.  3.  Said  district  shall  be  called  Union  School  Dist- 
rict, and  shall  have,  enjoy,  possess  and  exercise  all  rights, 
powers,  privileges,  advantages  and  immunities  of  other  school 
districts,  shall  be  entitled  to  its  equal  and  joint  proportions 
of  the  school  funds,  and  shall  be  organized,  regulated,  con- 
trolled and  governed  by  the  laws  of  the  state  now  in  force, 
or  that  may  be  hereafter  passed."" 

The  free  school  law,  two  years  later,  provided  for  the 
establishment  of  union  districts:     "Whenever    it    may    be 
desirable  to  establish  a  school  composed  of  pupils,  residents 
of    two    or    more    districts,    or    two    or    more    to^vnships, 
it     shall     be     the     duty     of     the     respective      boards      of 
Education    of    each    of    such    townships    to    transfer    such 
number     of     the     pupils     residing      in      such      toAvnships 
as  the  boards  may  deem  proper  to  the  school  so  established 
in  the  township  in  which  the   school  house  is   or  may  be 
located;  but  the  enumeration  of  scholars  shall  be  taken  in 
each  of  such  toAvnships  as  if  no  such  transfer  had  been  made ; 
and  such  school  funds  of  the  respective  townships  in  which 
the  pupils  composing  such  school  shall  reside,  and  from  which 
they  shall  have  been  transferred ;  and  the  board  of  that  town- 
ship in  which  the  school  house  where  such  school  is  located 
shall  have  the  control  and  management  of  such  school ;  and  the 
boards  of  each  of  such  townships  so  connected  for  school  pur- 
poses shall  each  pay  its  respective  share  of  the  entire  ex- 
penses of  every  kind  incurred  in  the  establishment  and  sup- 
port of  such  school,  to  be  computed  in  proportion  to  the  num- 
ber of  pupils  residing  in  each  of  such  to^\^lships  composing 
such  school;  and  each  board  of  the  towmships  from  which 
pupils  are  transferred  shall  draw  an  order  on  its  township 
treasurer,  signed  by  its  president,  in  favor  of  the  towTiship 
treasurer  whose  board  shall  have  the  control  and  management 
of  such  school,  as  the  case  may  be,  for  the  amount  of  its  share 
of  the  entire  expenses  aforesaid  of  such  school,  and  the  board 
of  the  township  having  control  and  management  as  aforesaid 
of  such  school  shall  pay  out  of  its  treasury  the  whole  amount 
required  for  the  establishment    and    maintenance    of    such 
schools,    in    the    manner    as    provided    in  this  act  for  the 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  other  schools;  Provided, 


•Sess.  Laws,   1853,  p.  186. 


159 

however,  by  agreement  of  the  several  boards  interested 
therein,  said  school  may  be  placed  under  the  control  and 
management  of  such  persons  as  may  be  determined  by  a 
majority  of  said  boards. ' '  ^ 

The  Illinois  Teacher  gave  the  reason  for  the  name,  union 
schools,  thus:  ''They  are  called  Union  Schools  because  they 
afford  all  the  advantages  of  a  well  conducted  common  or 
select  school  and  academy  for  gentlemen,  and  the  seminary 
for  ladies;  they  are  called  graded  because  the  pupils  are 
classified  according  to  their  attainments;  in  such,  the  scholar 
may  commence  with  the  alphabet  and  pass  from  one  grade  to 
another,  until  prepared  to  engage  in  the  common  pursuits 
of  life,  or  enter  any  college  or  university. ' '  ^ 

Therefore,  it  is  quite  evident  that  the  high  school  was  a 
part  of  the  union  graded  system.  Moreover,  it  was  essential 
to  the  union  graded  schools  to  have  a  high  school  as  the  cap- 
stone. ''Our  Union  Graded  Schools  have  demonstrated  to 
the  most  skeptical  that  by  adopting  this  plan  they  can  have 
schools,  apparatus  and  libraries,  equal,  if  not  superior,  to 
our  private  institutions,  with  but  a  small  additional  expense 
to  the  present  system.  We  look  upon  the  establishment  of  the 
Union  Graded,  or  Central  High  School  to  be  essential  to  the 
free  school  system."^ 

The  scheme  of  gradation  was  advocated  somewhat  vigor- 
ously over  the  State  because  its  advocates  believed  that  it  was 
economical;  that  it  was  a  stimulus  to  exertion  on  the  part 
of  the  pupil ;  that  classification  could  be  made  on  merit ;  that 
the  school  system  would  become  a  selective  agent;  that  a 
broader  range  of  studies  was  possible ;  that  school  work  could 
be  made  continuous ;  that  more  expert  teaching  was  possible ; 
and  that  better  organization  and  administration  resulted.'"' 

From  the  above  advantages  of  gradation,  as  were  pointed 
out  in  educational  thought,  the  framers  of  educational  legis- 
lation were  induced  to  make  provision  for  graded  schools  in 
the  bill  of  1854.  Towmship  boards  "shall  have  power  to  estab- 
lish schools  of  different  grades,  to  assign  such  number  of 
scholars  to  such  schools  as  they  may  think  best,  and  to  control 

^  Sess.  Laws,  1855,  p.  61,  sec.  37. 
«I11.  Teach.,  v.  I,  p.  257. 
•Ibid.  V.  4,  p.   6. 

»»  These   arguments  are    greatly   expanded   In   the    Illinois    Teacher,   Volume 
4,  page  90. 


160 

and  regulate  the  admission  of  scholars  to  schools  of  the  higher 
and  different  grades,  and  if  on  account  of  great  distance  or 
difficulty  of  access  to  the  schools  in  any  township,  or  on  ac- 
count of  the  scholar  being  too  far  advanced  to  prosecute  his 
studies  in  any  school  in  his  township,  any  of  the  pupils  could 
be  more  conveniently  accommodiited  in  any  other  schools, 
academies  or  colleges  in  this  State,  the  board  of  education 
shall  have  the  power  to  make  an  arrangement  by  which  such 
pupils  may  be  instructed  in  the  most  convenient  school,  acad- 
emy or  college  in  tliis  state,  and  tlie  expense  of  such  instruc- 
tion shall  be  paid  out  of  the  public  funds,  as  may  be  agreed 
upon  by  the  board  of  education."  ^*' 

The  high  school  developed  as  a  part  of  the  common  school 
system  when  the  common  schools  became  graded  into  pri- 
mary, grammar  and  higher  departments.  It  is  true  that  the 
gradation  of  each  of  the  departments  took  place  next,  but  we 
are  only  concerned  now  with  the  last  department.  The  acad- 
emy may  be  said  to  have  represented  the  upper  part  of  the 
common  school  system  in  an  ungraded  form,  with  some  en- 
richment of  the  curriculum.  With  the  great  power  of  the 
State  behind  the  free  common  schools,  the  private  schools 
and  academies  could  not  compete.  Many  of  the  private  in- 
stitutions accordingly,  asked  the  state  superintendent  how 
they  could  be  changed  into  high  or  union  graded  schools 
under  the  present  law.  By  the  law  of  1855,  as  amended  in 
1857  and  1859,  two  methods  were    open : 

1.  The  directors  of  all  the  districts  that  wanted  to  unite 
should  determine  the  number  of  scholars  to  attend  the  new- 
school,  should  erect,  rent  or  purchase  a  building  and  should 
levy  a  tax  on  each  district  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
pupils  therefrom.  The  academy  buildings  might  be  so 
selected,  and  the  directors  in  the  district  where  the  school  was 
to  be  located  should  have  its  control  and  management. 

2.  All  district  directors  might  elect  three  trustees  to  be 

styled,    directors    of    union    district    No. ,    in    township 

No. .     The  union  directors  should  have  power  to  lew  a 

tax  on  all  property  of  the  union  district.  Pupils  should  be 
admitted  from  outside  the  union  district  under  such  rules  as 
the  trustees  should  see  fit  to  establish. 


state  Supt.  Rep.,   1854,  p.  30. 


161 

The  difference  in  the  two  methods  lay  in  the  fact  that,  in 
the  first,  the  tax  was  to  be  levied  on  each  district  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  pupils  therefrom  and  the  care  of  the 
school  rested  in  the  hands  of  the  directors  where  the  school 
was  located.  By  the  second  plan,  the  directors  were  the  trus- 
tees of  the  entire  union  district  with  the  power  to  levy  taxes 
on  all  of  the  property  in  the  union  district.  Finally,  the  school 
was  under  the  control  of  the  directors  representing  the  whole 
district. 

By  these  provisions,  private  institutions  could  become 
public.  "Whether  they  did  or  not  must  be  proved  by  investiga- 
tion, although  the  state  superintendent  said,  "that  nearly 
two-thirds  of  all  the  private  Academies  and  Seminaries  that 
existed  in  the  state  have  thrown  up  their  organizations  and 
reorganized  under  the  Common  School  law."" 
A  list  of  Illinois  High  Schools  in  Existence  at  the  Beginning 

of  the  Civil  War. 

The  ordinary  conception  is  that  few  free  high  schools 
were  in  existence  in  the  United  States  before  the  Civil  War. 
But  investigations  in  Massachusetts,  Ohio  and  Illinois  have 
shown  that  an  unexpected  number  were  in  operation.  Cer- 
tainly those  institutions  were  not  our  present  day  high  schools 
any  more  than  early  Harvard  and  Yale  were  the  universities 
we  know  today.  The  characteristics  of  the  high  schools 
in  Illinois  before  the  Civil  War  were  clearly  enough  marked 
out  to  warrant  the  use  of  the  term — high  school. 

Then,  we  shall  give  a  few  examples  to  shoAV  how  we  have 
concluded  that  the  free  high  schools  were  established  as  given 
in  the  table  below.  First,  let  us  take  Chicago.  The  legis- 
lature, March  1,  1839,  gave  the  cit}^  council  power  to  tax  for 
schools. 

''Sec.  3.  The  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Chicago 
shall  have  power  to  raise  all  sufficient  sums  of  money,  by 
taxing  the  real  and  personal  estates  in  said  city,  for  the 
following  purposes,  to  wit :  To  build  school  houses ;  to  estab- 
lish, support  and  maintain  common  and  public  schools,  and 
to  supply  the  inadequacy  of  the  school  fund  for  the  payment 
of  teachers;  to  purchase  or  lease  a  site  or  sites  for  school 
houses;  to  erect,  hire  or  purchase  buildings  suitable  for  said 

"  As    an   example    of   reorganization,    see    the    special    act    allowing    Crystal 
Lake  Academy  to  reorganize.     Sess.   Laws,   1857,  p.   1223. 


162 

school  houses;  to  keep  in  repair  and  furnish  the  same  witli 
necessary  fixtures  and  furniture  whenever  they  may  deem  it 
expedient;  and  the  taxes  for  that  purpose  shall  be  assessed 
and  collected  in  the  same  manner  that  other  city  taxes  are  or 
may  be."  ^- 

Therefore,  a  free  high  school  could  have  been  estab- 
lished in  Chicago.  About  1840,  the  schools  of  the  city  were 
reorganized  and  the  board  of  inspectors  in  their  annual  re- 
port said  ''Had  we  the  means,  the  establishment  of  a  High 
School,  with  two  good  teachers,  into  which  might  be  placed 
a  hundred  of  the  best  instructed  scholars  from  different 
schools,  would  remedy  this  increasing  evil."  ^^ 

The  school  committee,  in  1844,  advocated  a  high  school 
for  advanced  pupils.  "The  lower  story  to  be  divided  into 
two  rooms,  one  for  small  boys  and  another  for  small  girls, 
the  upper  room  to  be  so  divided  as  to  give  necessary  recita- 
tion rooms  for  a  High  School,  so  that  one  Principal  Teacher 
and  two  or  three  assistants  shall  be  able  to  conduct  the  sev- 
eral schools,  and  thus  give  it  a  High  School  in  which  may  be 
placed  the  more  advanced  scholars."  ^* 

Again,  in  1846,  the  inspectors  called  the  attention  of  the 
common  council  to  the  need  of  "at  least  one  school  where  the 
ordinary  academic  studies  may  be  taught."  ^^ 

The  school  committee,  the  next  year,  in  its  report  said, 
"In  reference  to  a  High  School,  they  are  of  the  opinion  that 
there  are  insuperable  objections  to  the  establishment  of  such 
a  school,  independent  of  the  inability  of  the  city  at  the  present 
time  to  build  one."  ^^ 

However,  a  special  committee  reported  a  plan  to  the  city 
council  for  the  establishment  of  a  high  school,  and  gave  the 
reasons  why  the  city  should  have  such  an  institution.  There 
upon,  Dec.  11,  1854,  the  city  council  "Ordered,  That  the 
Committee  on  Schools  be  directed  to  prepare  an  ordinance 
for  the  establishment  of  a  High  School  in  connection  with  our 
Public  School  System." 

"Ordered,  That  said  Committee  recommend  a  site  for 
said  School,  and  that  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools 

"Sess.  Laws,  1838-39,  p.  215. 
"Chi.  School  Rep.,   1879,   p.   48. 
"Chi.   School   Rep.,   1879,   p.   48. 
^  Ibid. 
"  Ibid. 


163 

be  requested  to  furnish  an  outline  plan  of  a  building  for  the 
accommodation  of  said  school."  ^^ 

Jan.  23,  1855,  the  common  council  passed  an  ordinance 
establishing  a  high  school,  which  institution  was  opened  in  a 
building  erected  for  it,  Oct.  1856. 

Next  take  Virginia.  The  law  of  1845  made  provision  for 
the  levying  of  taxes  in  any  district  where  two-thirds  of  the 
voters  decided  to  tax  themselves  for  schools.  This  village 
took  advantage  of  the  law  and  a  year  later  had  a  high  school 
department  in  operation  as  appears  from  this  quotation: 
"We  have  a  common  school  of  grades  in  Virginia,  commenced 
in  July,  conducted  by  two  teachers,  in  separate  departments, 
with  eighty  scholars,  in  which  a  thorough  course  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  English  branches  of  Education,  in  Mathematics, 
in  Latin,  Greek,  and  French  Languages,  and  in  the  orna- 
mental branches,  are  ably  taught.  We  have  a  third  depart- 
ment in  the  same  building,  liberally  granted  by  the  county 
commissioners'  court  for  a  nominal  amount  approved  by  the 
people,  which  will  be  fitted  for  use  when  the  number  of 
scholars  justifies  the  employment  of  additional  teachers  *  *  * 
This  school  district  and  Beardstown  *  *  *  voted  in  May  last 
the  highest  rate  of  taxation  under  the  law. ' '  ^^ 

Similarly,  a  union  school,  with  a  high  school  department 
was  in  operation  in  Rockton  in  1851:  "In  the  afternoon  of 
the  same  day,  we  visited  the  Rockton  Union  School,  under  the 
Superintendence  of  Mr.  Seely  Perry,  *  *  *  In  this  school 
are  realized  more  fully  than  in  any  other  district  in  the  county 
the  advantages  of  a  division  of  labor.  There  were  about  160 
pupils  in  the  school,  embracing  classes  in  all  stages  of  prog- 
ress, from  the  alphabet  up  to  the  highest  branches  of  classical 
and  natural  science  taught  in  our  best  academies."  ^^ 

Finally,  communications,  and  the  reports  of  the  state 
agent  who  travelled  for  the  establishment  of  free  schools, 
showed  that  high  schools  were  opened,  many  relatively  per- 
manent, and  some  whose  existence  ended  with  the  decay  of 
the  villages  from  economic  conditions.  The  following  table, 
perhaps,  has  omitted  some  high  schools  that  were  in  existence, 


"  Chi.  School  Rep.  1879,  p.  50. 
^*  Prairie  Farmer,  v.  6,  p.  86. 
»Ibid..  V.   11,   p.   160. 


164 


but  it  shows  that  the  free  high  school  had  a  good  start  by 
1860. 


Alton   1859 

Atlanta   1859 

Belleville    I860 

Belvidere 1857 

Bloomington    1856 

New    Boston 1860 

Brimiield    1860 

Canton    1862 

Chester   1856 

Chicago 1856 

Decatur 1856-62 

Dwight    I860 

DLxon    1857 

Eden    1856 

East  Elgin 1856 

East  Pawpaw 1856 

Franklin    Grove 1856 

Freeport    About  1851 

Fulton  City 1860 

Galena,    Male    High 

School  and  Female 

High    School 1857 

Galva 1859 

Geneseo 1852-59 

Galesburg,  but 

charged  tuition 

for  several  years.  .1859-60 
Homer    Seminary, 

changed   to   free 

school    1858 

Jacksonville,  West. .  .1851 
Jerseyville,      mostly 

free    1853 

Joliet  1858 


Kewanee  1859 

Lacon 1858 

LeRoy   1856 

Lockport 1856 

Lee  Union  Center . . .  1859 

Lyndon    1847 

Mount  Vernon  Acad- 
emy,   changed    to 

free  school 1856 

Nashville    Academy, 
changed     to     free 

school    1858 

Ottawa    1857 

Paris    1856-66 

Sparta    1856 

Peoria   1856 

Plainfield 1856 

Princeton    1857-66 

Prairieville 1858 

Urbana      Seminary, 
changed     to     free 

school    1856-58 

Quincy    1856 

Rockford 1862 

Eock  Island 1858 

Rockton 1851 

Springfield  1858 

Vandalia 1858 

Virginia    1846 

Warsaw    1858 

Washington,  T  a  2;  e  - 

well  Co 1858 

Waukegan    1856 

Wethersfield    1859 


Subjects  of  Study. 

Since  the  common  school  included  a  high  school  depart- 
ment in  numerous  instances,  it  is  to  be  expected  that  second- 


165 

ary  subjects  of  study  existed  along  with  elementary  subjects. 
Either  high  school  subjects  were  contemplated,  or  they  were 
being  taught  in  some  common  schools  before  the  permanent 
free  school  law  was  passed.  The  county  superintendent  of 
Stark  county  hoped  to  have  the  common  schools  so  perfected, 
*'as  to  be  able  to  teach,  in  the  most  approved  manner,  all  that 
our  children  need  to  learn  in  order  to  fit  them  for  the  ordi- 
nary avocations  of  life.  They  not  only  need  to  know  how 
to  read  and  write  and  cipher,  but  to  have  some  knowledge  of 
History,  Natural  and  Mental  Philosophy,  Political  Economy, 
Chemistry,  Physiology,  Geology  and  Meteorology.  All  these 
may  be  profitably  taught  in  our  common  schools."  "" 

However,  in  those  communities  where  the  toA\Ti  charter 
had  given  the  common  council  the  right  to  impose  a  tax  for  the 
support  of  schools,  or  in  those  places  where  the  people  were 
willing  by  a  two-thirds  and  then  later  a  majority  vote  to  tax 
themselves  for  education,  or  where  the  schools  were  graded, 
there,  subjects  of  an  advanced  nature  were  taught.  Chicago 
common  schools  in  1847,  were  teaching,  besides  such  sub- 
jects as  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  Townes'  Intellec- 
tual Algebra,  Baley's  Algebra,  Preston's  District  School 
Book-keeping,  Physiology,  Gales'  PhUosophy  and  bray  s 
Chemistry. ' '  ^^ 

In  the  Eockton  Union  School,  subjects  were  taught  "from 
the  alphabet  up  to  the  highest  branches  of  classical  and  natu- 
ral sciences  taught  in  our  best  academies."-'  In  Virginia, 
111.,  the  common  schools  were  graded  so  that  m  the  upper 
division  there  was  a  "thorough  course  of  instruction  m  the 
English  branches  of  education;  in  mathematics;  m  Latin, 
Greek,  and  French  Languages,  and  in  the  ornamental 
branches.'"'  A  union  school  at  Freeport  taught,  besides  the 
common  branches,  mathematics,  natural  and  moral  sciences, 
French,  Greek  and  Latin.'^  At  Carrollton,  German,  French, 
Latin,  Greek  and  Spanish,  in  addition  to  the  common 
branches,  were  taught  in  the  common  schools."  The  county 
superintendent  of  Peoria  county  reported    that    chemistry, 

20  Prairie  Farmer,   v.   12,   p.   236. 

"  Prairie  Farmer,  v.   7,  p.   372. 

M  Prairie  Farmer,   v.   II.   1851,  p.   160. 

*2  Prairie   Farmer,   v.   6,    1846,   p.   86. 

« State  Supt.  Report.  1851,  p.  230. 

» House  Reports,   1853,  p.   179. 


166 

algebra,  physiology,  ancient  and  United  States  history,  and 
philosophy  were  taught  in  the  common  schools."**  Will 
county  included  in  the  program  for  the  common  schools,  as- 
tronomy, algebra,  physiology,  chemistry  and  philosophy.^^ 
Moreover,  subjects  of  secondary  character  were  taught  in 
some  of  the  common  schools  in  the  counties  of 
Champaign,  Greene,  Johnson,  Jefferson,  Marion,  Pike, 
Saline,  Stark,  Lake  and  Woodford  according  to  the 
reports  of  the  county  superintendents  of  those  coun- 
ties for  1851.^^  Morgan  county  had  a  union  graded 
school  at  Jacksonville  wherein  departments  of  study 
were  included  as  far  as  those  of  college  grade.^^  Jerseyville 
had  a  high  school,  mostly  free,  as  a  part  of  the  common  school 
system  in  which  teachers  were  prepared  for  elementary  in- 
struction.^" In  Knox  county,  a  union  district  building  was 
constructed  in  which  ^'the  plan  to  be  pursued  is  to  select  a 
principal  capable  of  teaching  all  the  branches  usually  taught 
in  a  high  school,  with  sufficient  assistance  to  accomodate  the 
whole  district. ' '  ^^ 

The  Prairie  Farmer  found  that  some  of  the  common 
schools  were  teaching  mental  and  written  arithmetic,  drawing, 
writing,  spelling,  mathematical,  physical,  civil  and  political 
geography,  astronomy,  English  grammar,  United  States  his- 
tory, physiology,,  natural  and  mental  philosophy,  algebra, 
geometry,  economics  and  the  ornamental  branches.^" 

The  subjects  in  the  common  schools  were  not  so  extensive 
in  scope  as  those  taught  in  the  academies,  but  they  were  quite 
similar.  One  reason  for  the  likeness  was  that  the  common 
man  took  his  cue  from  the  classes  above  him.  It  was  the 
fashion  for,  say,  *' Ornamental  Branches",  to  be  taught  to  the 
children  of  the  working  people.  While  the  parents'  oppor- 
tunities had  been  limited,  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek,  as  in 
the  academies,  would  make  their  children  cultured.  When 
they  were  arguing  for  the  common  school,  the  leaders  thus 
retained  part  of  the  philosophy  of  the  academy  in  the  curri- 
cula of  the  '^people's  college."    The  other  reason  was  that 

*»  House   Reports,    1R!il.   app.   of   Supt..   Report. 
"House   Reports.    IS.")!,   app.   of  Supt.   Report. 
="  House   Reports,    1851.   app.   of  Supt.   Report. 
=»  House  Reports  1853,  p,  163. 
»»  House  Reports  1853,  p,  163. 
"House    Reports,    1849,    p.    113. 
"Prairie   Farmer,   v.    10,   1850,   p.    11. 


167 

the  academies  supplied  many  of  the  common  teachers  for  the 
eonmion  schools.  The  teachers  naturally  taught  those  sub- 
jects which  they  studied  in  the  academies. 

At  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  free  school  laAv,  which 
gave  a  decided  impetus  to  the  formation  of  high  schools,  the 
educational  literature  had  quite  a  little  about  the  kind  of  sub- 
ject matter,  and  its  organization,  that  should  be  adopted  by 
the  high  school.  The  Illinois  Teacher  printed  the  program 
of  studies  which  appears  in  the  list  below  for  the  guidance 
of  school  men.  Chicago  began  its  central  high  school  in 
1856  with  a  two  year  curriculum  for  prospective  teachers, 
a  three  year  English  curriculum  and  a  four  year  English 
classical  curriculum.  Schools  reorganizing  under  the  free 
school  law  also  were  advised  to  stud}^  the  Chicago  curricula 
for  suggestions.  However,  it  is  quite  probable  that  most  of 
the  common  schools  enlarged  their  curricula  gradually  rather 
than  creating  others,  de  novo.  The  academies,  reorganized 
by  the  law  of  1855,  probably  continued  the  subjects  that  they 
had  taught.  At  any  rate,  the  core  of  the  curricula  that  were 
suggested  continued  to  urge  the  languages,  mathematics,  and 
philosophy,  which  were  the  intellectual  studies  of  the  academy, 
as  appears  from  the  following  programs  of  study: 

FiKST  Yeae. 

First  Term — Latin,  or  English  Analysis;  Algebra,  Elocu- 
tion and  Orthography. 

Second  Term — Latin,  or  English  Analysis,  Algebra,  History. 

Third  Term — Latin,  or  Elements  of  Physiology;  Arithmetic; 
History. 

Second  Year. 
First     Term — Latin,    or   Rhetoric;    Geometry;    History    or 
Greek. 

Second  Term — Latin,  or  Rhetoric ;  Geometry ;  History  or 
Greek. 

Third  Term — Latin,  or  Bookkeeping;  Algebra;  Botany,  or 
Greek. 

Third  Year. 

First  Term — Latin,  or  Natural  History;  Physical  Geog- 
raphy; Trigonometry,  or  Greek 


168 

Second  Term— Latin,  or  Surveying,  etc. ;  Physiology ;  Natural 

Philosophy,  or  Greek. 
Third    Term — Latin,  or  Evidence  of  Christianity;  Eeview  of 

Arithmetic,  etc.;  Astronomy,  or  Greek. 

Fourth  Year. 

First  Term — Mental  Philosophy,  or  Latin;  Rhetoric; 
Chemistry,  or  Greek. 

Second  Term — Mental  Philosophy,  or  Latin;  Civil  Govern- 
ment ;  Geology,  or  Greek. 

Third  Term — Moral  Philosophy,  or  Latin ;  Review  of  Arith- 
metic, etc. ;  Logic,  or  Greek. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  are  in  reality  three  courses 
marked  out  in  this  report.  The  first  is  the  General  Course 
which  the  main  body  of  the  school  may  be  supposed  to  pursue. 
It  is  that  given  in  the  scheme  omitting  the  alternative 
branches.  The  second,  is  the  course  preparatory  to  College. 
It  is  the  same  as  the  General  course  for  the  first  year ;  but  in 
the  second  and  third  years,  substitutes  Greek,  and  in  the 
fourth,  Latin  and  Greek.  It  may  be  called  the  Collegiate 
course.  The  third  is  for  those  who  prefer  not  to  study  Latin. 
It  differs  from  the  General  Course  by  substituting  other 
studies  in  the  place  of  Latin  for  the  first  three  years.  It  is 
the  Imperfect  Course.  As  sounder  notions  of  Education  be- 
come prevalent,  this  course  will  become  less  popular  and  the 
General  Course  more  so. ' '  ^^ 

The  normal  training  curriculum  of  the  Chicago  High 
School  consisted  of  a  review  of  the  common  branches,  physical 
geography,  general  history,  ancient  geography,  algebra,  book- 
keeping, botany,  astronomy,  physiology,  natural  philosophy, 
chemistry,  geolog}^  rhetoric,  political  science,  mental  philoso- 
phy, moral  science,  etymology,  English  literature,  reading, 
drawing,  music,  recitations  and  the  theory  and  practice  of 
teaching. 

The  English  course  consisted  of  a  review  of  the  common 
branches,  physical  geography,  general  history,  ancient  geog- 
raphy, algebra,  legendre,  arithmetic,  plane  and  spherical 
trigonometry,    mensuration,    surveying,     navigation,     book- 

'»ni.   Teacher,  v.   4.   p.   400. 


169 

keeping,  botany,  astronomy,  natural  philosophy,  chemistry, 
geology,  rhetoric,  logic,  economics,  political  science,  mental 
philosophy,  moral  science,  etymology,  English  literature, 
reading,  drawing,  music,  German,  French. 

The  English  classical  curriculum  added  to  the  English 
curriculum,  Latin,  grammar  and  prose,  Caesar,  Cicero,  Virgil 
and  Greek.^* 

None  of  the  high  schools  over  the  State  had  such  an  ex- 
tensive program  as  the  two  above  indicated.  Peoria  gave 
the  following  as  the  subjects  taught  in  her  high  school  in  1856: 

''First  Class — Spelling  in  connection  with  etymology; 
read  and  define  from  the  Fifth  Reader ;  Arithmetic  completed 
and  reviewed;  English  Grammar." 

"Second  Class — Mathematical  and  Physical  Geography; 
Latin  begun;  Algebra;  Bookkeeping;  Spelling  weekly," 

"Third  Class — Geometry  and  Trigonometry;  Latin  con- 
tinued Natural  Philosophy ;  Drawing ;  Spelling  weekly. ' ' 

"Fourth  Class — Chemistry;  Latin  continued;  Rhetoric 
and  Logic;  Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy;  Reading  and  Elocu- 
tion; Spelling  weekly.  "^^ 

Greek  was  to  be  added  if  enough  pupils,  planning  to  go 
to  college,  warranted  the  formation  of  a  class. 

Springfield  had  practically  the  same  program.  The  first 
class  was  preparatory,  and  the  other  three  classes  offered 
Latin,  Greek,  mathematics,  English,  history  and  science.^*' 

Galesburg  had  three  grades  in  the  high  school  which 
were  designated  as  A,  B,  C.  All  of  the  common  branches  were 
taught  and  in  addition,  mathematics  as  high  as  algebra, 
science  in  the  form  of  natural  philosophy,  three  classes  in 
Latin,  physical  geography  and  rhetoric,  composed  of  essays, 
declamations  and  composition.^^ 

Finally,  the  programs  of  some  of  the  reorganized  acad- 
emies included  such  subjects  as  Latin,  Greek,  French,  geom- 
etry, plane  and  spherical  trigonometry,  chemistry,  philosophy 
and  the  common  branches  in  preparation  for  the  more  ad- 
vanced work. 

From  a  study  of  the  upper  part  of  the  common  schools 
that  were  being  graded,  it  must  be  concluded  that  some  sub- 

8^  Chicago  Report,  v.   3.  1856.  p.  28. 

'5  Illinois  Teacher,   v.  2.   1856.  p.  340. 

««  Springfield  Report,   1866,  p.   26. 

•'  Steele,  History  of  the  Galesburg  Public  Schools. 


170 

jects  of  a  secondary  nature  were  generally  taught  about  the 
time  of  the  enactment  of  the  free  school  law.  Moreover,  it 
was  customary  to  include  a  review  of  some  of  the  common 
branches  as  the  preliminary  or  preparatory  work  in  the 
higher  department.  Therefore,  the  boundary  between  prim- 
ary and  secondary  education  was  loosely  draA\Ti  for  a  period 
of  about  two  decades,  1855-1875. 

What  the  jjrovince  of  each  was  had  to  be  determined  in 
actual  practice.  The  high  school  as  well  as  the  elementary 
school  was  becoming  an  institution  whose  advantages  were 
open  to  all  the  people.  The  primary  schools  no  longer  existed 
exclusively  for  the  public  and  secondarj^  education  no  longer 
was  maintained  exclusively  as  a  privilege  of  the  upper  classes. 
The  change  to  a  vertical  from  a  parallel  system  of  education 
entailed  no  definite  number  of  years  in  the  length  of  the  com- 
mon school  system.  No  conclusive  evidence  has  been  found 
that  the  early  free  public  high  schools  in  Illinois  had  a  four- 
year  program.  In  fact,  that  length  of  time  for  secondary 
education  was  not  used  as  a  basis  for  the  classification  of  high 
schools  in  the  State  until  about  1880. 

Farthermore,  the  number  of  years  in  the  grades  was 
equally  late  of  determination.  The  first  mention  of  gradation 
in  Illinois  was  in  1837,  and  the  names,  primary,  intermediate 
and  grammar  designated  departments  which  are  still  quite 
common.  These  departments  began  to  be  graded  in  the  more 
progressive  communities  of  the  State  by  1855,  but  there  was 
little  thought  that  a  year's  work  in  the  elementary  school 
should  constitute  one  grade.  Some  schools  had  ten  grades 
with  the  tenth  grade  the  beginning  class,  and  the  first  grade 
the  most  advanced  grade  of  the  elementary  school,  but  the 
length  of  the  elementary  school  was  about  six  years  until 
1875.  About  that  time  the  plan  of  making  the  first  grade  the 
first  year  of  elementary  school  work  and  the  adoption  of  eight 
years  of  eight  grades  was  begun.  Some  schools  added  a  year 
to  the  elementary  grades  to  prepare  for  the  high  school  ex- 
amination. The  year  so  added  was  called  the  seventh  grade. 
Other  schools  took  the  common  branches  or  preparatory 
work  out  of  the  high  school  and  added  it  to  the  elementary 
school.  A  few  high  schools  retained  what  is  now  the  eighth 
grade  and  made  a  longer  high  school  period.    Therefore  the 


171 

length  in  years  of  the  elementary  schools  and  many  of  the 
high  schools  in  Illinois  is  the  result  of  a  generation  or  more 
of  development,  1850  to  1880,  rather  than  the  adoption,  be- 
tween 1840  and  1850,  of  the  plan  of  the  eight  year  highly  or- 
ganized volkschule  of  Prussia  as  Dr.  Judd  claims. 

High  School  Entrance  Requirements. 

The  academy,  as  has  been  shown  in  chapter  four,  ad- 
mitted almost  anyone  who  was  able  and  willing  to  pay  for  in- 
struction; the  common  school,  from  necessity,  received  part 
of  its  support  in  tuition  charges  before  the  free  school  law 
was  passed.  Neither  were  the  equipment  and  the  length  of 
the  term,  nor  the  quality  of  instruction  comparable  to  that 
which  was  given  in  the  academy  until  advantages  had  been 
gained  by  the  common  school  in  public  support,  and  in  the 
classification  and  gradation  of  its  pupils.  One  result  of  grad- 
ing the  common  school,  was  the  imposition  of  standards  that 
determined  when  a  pupil  finished  one  department  and  was 
ready  to  enter  another.  In  other  words,  entrance  require- 
ments were  imposed  which  consisted  of  a  combination  of  age 
and  the  completion  of  certain  more  or  less  formal  work  which 
had  been  set  as  a  requirement  of  a  particular  department. 
Entrance  to  the  primary  school  was  usually  based  on  age, 
while  it  was  expected  that  one  had  completed  the  grammar 
school,  or  its  equivalent,  before  entering  the  high  school. 

At  least  twenty-six  of  the  high  schools — practically  all  of 
them  growing  out  of  the  common  school — listed  above 
required  that  pupils  entering  the  high  school  pass  an  ex- 
amination as  a  condition  of  entrance.  In  other  words,  en- 
trance requirements  were  characteristic  of  the  free  public 
high  school  by  1860. 

Taxation. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  school  law  of  1825  provided 
for  local  taxes  and  the  distribution  of  two  per  cent  of  the 
yearly  State  revenues  for  the  maintenance  of  free  schools. 
The  legislature  repealed  the  local  tax  in  1827,  and  the  State 
tax  in  1829.  The  tax  feature  of  the  bills  of  1835  and  1841 
were  annulled,  but  the  legislature  in  1845  gave  any  district 
the  right  to  levy  taxes  by  a  two-thirds  majority  vote.  Also, 
some  cities  were  given  special  charters  in  which  the  right  to 


172 

tax  the  people  for  tlie  support  of  schools  was  granted.  More- 
over, the  same  authority  legalized  the  action  of  some  school 
directors  who  had  levied  a  tax  for  the  maintenance  of  free 
schools  at  the  instance  of  the  people  of  the  district.  The  final 
step  was  taken  by  the  law  of  1855,  which  made  it  mandatory 
to  tax  the  people  for  the  support  of  the  schools. ^''' 

Since  the  high  school  had  gro\^^l  up  as  a  part  of  the  com- 
mon school  in  its  process  of  gradation,  or  had  been  created  by 
the  city  councils  as  a  part  of  the  public  school  system  for  the 
given  city,  or  had  been  an  academy  that  reorganized  under 
the  free  school  law,  a  second  distinguishing  characteristic  was 
that  it  was  publicly  supported. 

Public  School  Boards. 

For  a  considerable  time  before  the  passage  of  the  free 
school  law,  towTiships  were  incorporated  for  educational  pur- 
poses under  the  control  of  elected  trustees,  and  districts  with- 
in the  townships  were  established  to  suit  the  convenience  of 
the  people,  and  were  administered  by  directors  who  were 
elected  for  that  pui*pose.  The  law  of  1855  added  the  third 
step  which  made  it  possible  to  have  directors  of  the  districts 
that  were  to  unite,  appoint  a  board,  to  control  the  newly 
created  union  district.  The  interpretation  by  the  State  Super- 
intendent of  the  law  of  1857,  w^hich  was  a  restatement  of  some 
of  the  disputed  sections  of  the  law  of  1855,  made  the  board 
for  the  union  district  representative  of  the  whole  district. 
Finally,  the  legislature,  in  1865,  restated  the  union  district 
clauses  of  the  previous  school  laws,  obviously  to  eliminate  the 
troublesome  questions  of  jurisdiction  that  had  arisen  in 
practice. 

''A  majority  of  the  directors  of  each  of  two  or  more  dis- 
tricts may  consolidate  said  districts  and  appoint  three  di- 
rectors for  the  union  district  so  formed,  who  shall  be  styled. 
''Directors  of  Union  District  No.  ...,  Township  No.  ...," 
who  shall  have  all  the  powers  conferred  by  law  upon  other 
school  directors.  The  proceedings  of  the  act  of  consolidation 
shall  be  signed  by  a  majority  of  each  of  the  concurring  boards 
of  directors,  and  delivered  to  the  trustees  of  the  proper  town- 


""The  State  tax  for  1856  was  $60fi,809.51;  for  1866,  $750,000.  The  local 
tax  for  1856  was  $341,964;  for  1866,  $2,078,335.  Common  school  fund  1856,  was 
$3,005,937. 


173 

ship,  and  shall  be  evidence  of  such  consolidation,  and  upon 
receiving  a  copy  of  proceedings,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
trustees  to  change  the  map  of  the  township  in  accordance 
therewith,  and  file  the  same  with  the  clerk  of  the  county 
court.  The  separate  boards  of  directors  shall  then  be  dis- 
solved and  the  union  directors  shall  draw  lots  for  their  re- 
spective terms  of  office  and  be  thereafter  elected  as  provided 
in  the  forty-second  section  of  the  act."^* 

A  free  public  high  school  not  only  was  an  institution  that 
was  supported  by  taxation,  and  that  imposed  entrance  re- 
quirements which  were  based  on  elementary  education,  but  it 
was  an  institution  that  was  controlled  by  a  board  of  directors 
who  were  elected  by  the  people. 

The  concluding  paragraphs  summarize  the  chapter. 
Public  boards  of  education  administered  the  high  school  and 
the  common  school  as  part  of  the  same  system,  even  though 
the  former  developed  from  the  latter  in  the  process  of  grada- 
tion and  unionization.  Schools  were  first  graded  into  primary, 
•grammar  and  high  departments,  and  later,  each  department 
was  graded.  More  primary  than  grammar,  and  more  gram- 
mar than  higher  departments  were  necessary;  hence  the 
policy  of  creating  union  districts  developed  in  which  one  in- 
stitution received  the  pupils  from  several  districts. 

Private  institutions  reorganized  under  the  free  school 
law  and  received  the  benefits  of  public  support.  The  resolu- 
tions adopted  by  city  councils,  the  reports  of  the  State  Super- 
intendent and  the  State  Agent,  and  newspaper  articles  showed 
that  about  fifty  high  schools  were  in  operation  in  Illinois  by 
1860. 

The  subjects  of  study  that  were  taught  in  some  of  the 
common  schools  were  secondary  as  well  as  elementary,  but  a 
distinct  attempt  was  made  to  introduce  curricula  for  the  use 
of  the  high  school  that  had  many  of  the  features  of  the  more 
formal  subjects  of  the  academy.  However,  pupils  were  gen- 
erally admitted  to  the  high  school  only  upon  the  completion 
of,  and  the  formal  examination  in  certain  elementary  sub- 
jects. The  school  itself  was  controlled  and  supported  by  the 
public. 

»«Sess.   Laws,   1865,  p.   117. 


174 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


I       The  Establishment  of  the  Free  Public  High  School. 

The  present  high  school  system  in  the  State  of  Illinois 
has  developed  solely  neither  from  the  township  nor  the  inde- 
pendent district  system,  but  rather  it  is  the  product  of  the 
growth  of  the  township  idea,  of  the  evolution  of  union  dis- 
tricts under  special  charter,  and  of  the  development  of  dis- 
tricts under  general  law.  The  purpose  of  this  chapter,  there- 
fore, is  to  consider  these  three  phases  in  a  general  way. 

Toivnship  High  Schools. 

People  of  the  central  west  have  been  familiar  with  the 
Northwest  Ordinances  which  made  land  grants  for  school 
purposes  on  the  basis  of  townships  or  subdivisions  of  them. 
In  1841,  the  legislature  had  gone  so  far  as  to  allow  the  in- 
habitants of  a  township  to  become  incorporated  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  public  schools.  By  the  same  act,  township  trus- 
tees were  to  be  elected  whose  duty  it  was  to  district  the  terri- 
tory to  suit  the  wishes  and  convenience  of  the  people  in  any 
neighborhood.  However,  many  of  the  districts  so  established 
were  too  small  to  support  all  grades  of  the  common  school. 
Some  localities  had  overcome  that  difficulty,  by  about  1850, 
by  joining  districts.  Others  advocated  the  outright  adoption 
of  a  township  basis  for  school  organization. 

Supt.  Edwards  prepared  the  free  school  bill  after  that 
plan,  but  the  legislature  decided  to  cling  to  the  mongrel  dis- 
trict-township combination.  However,  some  attempts  were 
almost  immediately  made,  in  1857,  to  adopt  a  large  territory 
as  the  basis  for  the  organization  of  a  high  school: 

* '  The  inhabitants  of  said  townships  shall  have  the  power 
to  unite  together  for  school  purposes,  and  select  the  site  or 
sites  for  school  houses,  and  to  use  their  surplus  funds  for  the 
creation  of  a  suitable  building  for  a  high  school  for  the  use 


175 

of  both  of  said  townships.  They  may  purchase  suitable  li- 
braries and  apparatus;  and  employ  suitable  teachers  for  such 
school  or  schools;  they  may  arrange  among  themselves  in 
respect  to  the  number  of  children  sent,  and  money  furnished 
by  each  township.'" 

The  above  quotation  is  the  earliest  piece  of  legislation 
that  has  been  found  for  the  creation  of  a  township  high 
school.  It  should  be  noted  that  the  high  school  thus  to  be 
established  was  so  ordered  by  a  special  charter  rather  than  a 
creation  of  the  free  school  law.  Also,  a  few  years  later,  the 
inhabitants  of  Princeton  took  the  customary  recourse  of  spe- 
cial charter  organization: 

"All  territory  now  included  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
township  of  Princeton,  in  the  county  of  Bureau  *  *  *, 
together  Avith  such  territory  as  hereafter  may  be  added 
thereto,  be  and  is  hereby  established  a  common  high  school 
district,  to  be  known  as  the  Princeton  High  School  District."  - 

The  period  for  special  charter  legislation,  however,  ended 
about  1870  and  the  legislature  incorporated  the  township  high 
school  plan  in  the  general  school  law  of  1872.  Under  the  pro- 
visions of  that  law  which  has  been  amended  from  time  to 
time  as  necessity  seemed  to  require,  seventy-one  township 
high  school  districts  are  now  in  existence. 

Only  two  districts  were  organized  by  a  law  of  1905  which 
was  enacted  with  the  expectation  that  more  elastic  provisions 
for  township  high  schools  had  thus  been  created.  In  1911,  a 
law  w^s  passed  w^hich  sought  to  make  the  establishment  of 
community  high  schools  possible.  Since  the  Supreme  Court 
declared  the  last  law  unconstitutional,  in  1916,  after  one  hun- 
dred ninety-one  schools  had  been  organized  by  its  provisions, 
the  legislature  enacted  the  law  of  1917  which  contains  some 
of  the  most  prominent  features  of  the  legal  foundation  for 
secondary  education  in  Illinois  today. 

By  the  provisions  of  the  five  above  named  distinctive 
toAvnship  laws,  a  variety  of  high  school  districts  were  legal 
and  have  been  established: 

1.  About  half  of  the  township  districts  in  Illinois  at  the 
present  time  follow  the  lines  of  the  congressional  township. 

1  Sess.  Laws,   1857.   p.   1136. 

2  Sess.   Laws.  1867,  v.  3,  p.   18. 


176 

2.  Two  or  more  adjoining  townships  could  establish  a 
high  school. 

3.  Two  or  more  adjoining  districts  were  permitted  to 
have  a  township  high  school  organization. 

4.  Parts  of  adjoining  townships  were  allowed  to  organize 
for  township  high  schools. 

5.  The  remainder  of  a  township  not  included  in  a  town- 
ship high  school  district  could  form  a  township  high  school. 

6.  A  school  district  with  a  population  of  at  least  two 
thousand  might  organize  in  township  form. 

7.  A  city  with  not  less  than  one  thousand  or  more  than 
a  hundred  thousand  inhabitants  could  use  the  township  basis 
for  school  purposes. 

8.  If  a  township  were  divided  by  a  navigable  stream  and 
there  were  a  political  town  on  each  side,  both  in  the  same 
township,  each  to\^m  could  organize  as  a  separate  township 
high  school  district. 

9.  The  inhabitants  of  any  contiguous  and  compact  terri- 
tory, whether  in  the  same  or  different  townsliips,  might  estab- 
lish a  township  high  school. 

10.  The  law  of  1917  includes  the  whole  State  as  high 
school  territory,  either  in  the  form  of  districts  already  main- 
taining high  schools,  or  non-high  school  districts  which  must 
pay  the  tuition  of  their  pupils  in  districts  that  do  support 
high  schools. 

From  these  indicated  territorial  bases  for  the  establish- 
ment of  township  high  schools,  it  is  at  once  evident  that  the 
surveyed  congressional  township  is  by  no  means  the  sole 
factor  in  the  size  of  the  high  school  districts.  About  half  of 
the  districts  are  determined  by  township  lines;  some  follow 
the  practice  provided  for  in  the  laws  of  1841,  which  permitted 
townships  or  fractional  townships  to  form  one  school  district ; 
others  follow  the  old  method  of  uniting  districts  which  began 
to  be  legally  recognized  about  1850;  still  others  are  similar 
to  the  general  law  of  1872,  which  permitted  the  city  board  of 
education  to  be  elected  when  the  population  of  the  district 
reached  two  thousand.  Finally,  the  distinctive  new  features 
have  obliterated  formal  boundary  lines  so  that  the  basal  dis- 
trict is  that  of  a  community  which  is  able  to  maintain  an 
efficient  school. 


177 

At  any  rate,  the  larger  district  for  township  organization 
has  made  it  possible  to  supply  the  financial  resources  req- 
uisite to  the  education  of  the  children  of  the  district  more 
adequately  than  can  be  done  in  smaller  districts.  Not  only  is 
the  unit  of  taxation  larger,  but  the  township  has  the  legal 
right  to  levy  the  full  rate  of  taxation  for  secondary  education 
which  is  allowed  in  other  districts  for  both  elementary  and 
secondary  education.  Thus  twice  the  amount  of  money  can 
be  raised  in  the  same  unit  for  high  schools  under  the  town- 
ship organization,  as  can  be  raised  in  the  same  unit  for 
secondary  education  under  district  organization. 

Therefore,  to^\mship  high  school  organizations  should  be 
superior  because  they  are  able  to  pay  higher  salaries  which 
command  better  qualified  teachers,  and  because  they  can 
furnish  superior  equipment  in  buildings  and  grounds.  The 
secondary  educational  opportunities  for  the  children  are 
thereby  increased.  But  a  disadvantage  has  arisen  because  of 
the  separation  and  the  lack  of  articulation  between  the  ele- 
mentary and  the  secondary  schools  under  to^vnship  organiza- 
tion. A  closer  unification  among  all  the  schools  of  the  town- 
ship was  contemplated  by  the  organizers  and  advocates  of 
the  township  idea  about  the  time  when  the  charters  were 
given  to  school  districts.^'' 

School  Districts  Under  Special  Charter. 

It  has  been  shown  that  a  great  many  academies  were 
chartered  by  special  and  separate  acts  of  the  Illinois  legisla- 
ture even  in  spite  of  the  general  corporation  laws  that  were 
on  the  statute  books  at  the  same  time,  A  similar  practice  has 
prevailed  in  relation  to  the  common  schools.  When  villages 
were  incorporated  some  provisions  were  made  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  education,  and  occasionally  special  charters  were 
granted  for  the  creation  of  certain  school  territory  in  and 
near  the  town  itself. 

The  boundaries  of  school  districts  from  1850  to  1870  were 
almost  continually  changing,  sometimes  because  better  educa- 
tional opportunities  could  be  provided,  at  other  times,  be- 
cause quarrels  ensued  over  such  questions  as  the  levying  of 


^a  Mr.  Edwards  gave  a  thorough  exposition  of  the  arguments  for  township 
organization  in  1855.  Mr.  Bateman  and  other  leaders  have  since  restated  Mr. 
Edwards'   arguments. 


178 

taxes,  the  employment  of  teachers,  and  the  location  and  con- 
struction of  buildings.  One  outgrowt^i  in  the  change  of  dis- 
trict lines  was  the  recognition  of  some  of  the  united  territory 
by  the  legislature.  Some  of  the  special  charters  thus  granted 
conferred  powers  on  the  new  districts  that  were  in  opposition 
to  the  free  school  laws.  In  several  cases,  the  right  to  ascer- 
tain the  qualities  of  common  school  teachers  and  certificate 
them  was  taken  from  the  county  superintendent,  a  power  con- 
ferred on  him  by  general  law,  and  bestowed  on  the  board  of 
education  for  the  new  district."^  Moreover,  the  law  of  1859 
stated  that  no  teacher  should  be  paid  out  of  the  State  funds 
unless  he  received  a  certificate  from  the  county  superintend- 
ent. However,  the  special  legislation  granted  the  districts 
with  charters  the  right  to  receive  their  share  of  the  school 
money. 

According  to  Supt.  Etter,  "in  many  of  these  districts 
there  is  not  even  an  examination  as  to  the  qualifications  re- 
quired, and  persons  are  employed  to  teach  without  authority, 
and  in  direct  violation  of  the  plain  provisions  of  school  law".^ 
He  continued  to  say  that  several  refused  to  return  school 
statistics  in  the  proper  m'anner  or  even  at  all. 

Although  some  districts  tried  and  did  evade  the  free 
school  principle  under  special  charter  which  granted  the 
board  the  right  to  fix  the  rate  of  tuition  in  public  schools,^" 
nevertheless  all  of  them  had  a  larger  district  than  was  com- 
mon and  many  of  them  provided  and  carried  into  execution 
the  plans  for  free  schools  of  all  grades.  Besides,  the  free 
education  of  all  the  youth  from  six  to  twenty-one  was  to  be 
provided  in  higher  as  well  as  primary  schools  whose  length 
of  term  was  quite  above  the  average  of  the  six  months  re- 
quired by  the  law  of  1855.  Among  some  of  the  very  early 
high  schools  of  the  State  were  those  districts  with  special 
charters.  For  instance,  Springfield,  Galesburg,  Lacon  and 
Lee  Union  Center  had  high  schools  established  before  1860. 
Finally,  the  board  under  special  charter  was  given  the  au- 
thority to  levy  a  tax  on  the  whole  district,  but  the  rate  of 
taxation  was  limited  by  the  terms  of  the  charter. 


2*>  See    Decatur.    Charleston.    Kickapoo    and    Paris    special    charters. 
»  State  Supt.  Report.  1875,  p.   141. 
'"  See   Galesburg    charter. 


179 


Since  most  of  these  districts  under  special  charters,  given 
about  the   Civil  War  period,  have  materially  changed   m 
economic  and  social  conditions,  the  annulment  or  the  amend- 
ment of  the  charters,  to  meet  the  demands  of  present  day 
secondary  education  would  be  advantageous.    For  instance, 
the  maximum  tax  rate  of  one  per  cent  on  the  district  may  be 
no  longer  justifiable.     Some  of  the  cities  with  old  charters 
have  cast  them  aside  in  order  to  make  more  modern  organiza- 
tions, but  in  1906,  thirty-seven  districts  still  remained. 
School  Districts  Established  hy  General  Law. 
The  free  school  law  of  1855  gave  a  decided  impetus  to  the 
development  of  common  schools  that  were  in  operation  at  the 
time  of  its  passage,  and  made  it  possible  to  create  new  in- 
stitutions that  were  free,  either  directly  as  common  schools 
or  indirectly  by  the  reorganization  of  academies  and  select 

^'^'It  is  highly  gratif^dng  to  be  able  to  state  that,  while 
a  considerable  number  of  these  institutions  are  still  m  opera- 
tion in  various  portions  of  the  State,  two-thirds  of  those  m 
existence  two  years  since  have  given  place  to  the  i'ublic 
Schools  or  been  themselves  transformed  into  Union  Graded 
Schools;  under  the  law  *  *  *  Scarcely  two  years  have 
elapsed  since  the  Free  School  System  went  into  operation  in 
this  State,  and  in  that  brief  period  it  ha^  nearly  swept  the 
entire  field  of  the  thousands  of  Private  Schools  which  then 

^""'^The  number  of  union  graded  schools  that  were  reported 
for  1862  was  402,  but  it  was  unreasonable  to  expect  that  all 
of  that  number  were  thoroughly  graded  on  the  basis  ot 
scholarship  and  attainment  so  that  each  of  them  had  a  higher 
department  of  a  secondary  nature.  ' '  That  very  many  of  them 
are  organized  and  conducted  on  the  true  basis,  is  certain,  as 
I  know  from  personal  observation.  We  have  gracJed  schools 
which  in  their  principles  of  instruction,  are  not  surpassed 
bv  those  of  any  other  state  within  my  knowledge.  buperm- 
tendent  Bateman  continued  by  saying  that  many  schools 
adopted  the  title  of  union  graded  schools  that  were  unworthy 
of  the  name. 

'         *  state  Supt.  Report,   1857-8,   p.  16. 
"State   Supt.   Report,    1861-2,    p.   21. 


180 

The  terms,  cominon  school,  graded  school,  or  -union 
graded  schools,  were  used  by  State  Superintendents  in  their 
reports  from  1855  to  1867  without  making  any  distinction 
between  elementary  and  high  schools.  At  the  latter  date, 
Mr.  Bateman  stated  ''that  one  or  more  advanced  schools,  or 
high  schools  or  departments,  have  been  established  in  nearly 
every  county  of  the  State  ".*^  The  number  of  public  high 
schools  reported  for  1869-70  was  108,  around  which  figure 
the  variation  was  slight  for  a  period  of  ten  years  or  so,  be- 
cause the  standards  for  classification  and  the  conception  of 
what  a  high  school  ought  to  be  were  continually  changing : 

"The  report  of  high  schools  for  1880  shows  apparently 
a  smaller  number  than  in  1878;  but  the  difference  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  I  asked  that  only  those  schools  should  be  classed 
as  high  schools  which  had  a  regular  course  of  high  school 
study  of  three  or  four  years'  duration — a  course  that  was 
actually  taught  to  the  pupils  in  the  school.  As  a  result  of  this 
request,  one  county  that  in  1878  reported  seven  high  schools, 
in  1880  reported  none;  another  county  changed  from  twelve 
to  three;  another,  from  seven  to  two."  ^ 

At  this  point  it  will  be  valuable  to  look  at  the  district 
system  which  had  grown  to  be  very  pernicious  by  1870.  The 
previous  laws  allowed  the  to^mship  trustees  to  district  the 
territory  although  the  inhabitants  in  the  township  had  a 
permissive  voice  in  fixing  boundaries.  At  one  extreme  were 
the  trustees,  at  the  other,  the  district  directors  with  no  author- 
ity in  determining  the  size  of  the  district.  Frequently  one 
set  of  trustees  would  make  large  districts  so  that  all  grades 
of  a  common  school  could  be  supported.  A  succeeding  board, 
some  member  of  which  living  in  the  large  district  was  wealthy 
and  had  no  children,  would  cut  the  district  in  two  and  ruin  the 
higher  schools.  In  the  continually  changing  districts,  terri- 
tory of  all  sizes  was  included  from  those  that  were  large  to 
those  that  were  so  small  that  a  single  family  had  a  whole 
district  all  to  itself.^ 

The  law  of  1872  took  away  the  right  of  township  trustees 
to  district  the  territory  at  will  and  gave  the  district  directors 
the  independent  right  to  consolidate  districts  in  contiguous 


8  state  Supt.  Report,  1867,1868,  p.  127. 
'State  Supt.  Report,  1879.  1880,  p.  92. 
•State   Supt.    Report,    1865,    1866.   p.    81. 


181 

territory.  Moreover,  the  general  assembly  recognized  the 
necessity  for  other  provisions  for  secondary  education  than 
those  made  for  township  high  schools  and  districts  with 
special  charters  by  incorporating  in  the  law  of  1872  the  sec- 
tions w^hich  gave  a  community  the  right  to  elect  an  indepen- 
dent board  when  the  population  numbered  two  thousand.  The 
board  was  expressly  given  the  power  to  provide  free  schools 
of  all  grades  for  at  least  six  months  in  such  a  district. 

From  1872  on  to  about  1890,  it  was  quite  common  to  have 
superintendents  report  that  districts  in  their  towns  had  con- 
solidated and  one  central  high  school  established  for  the  en- 
tire district.  Also,  about  the  same  time,  high  schools  began 
to  be  established  in  districts  under  the  control  of  district 
directors.  These  institutions  were  not  as  well  established 
nor  as  thorough  as  the  high  schools  established  under  town- 
ship organization  or  under  union  districts  with  special  char- 
ters, or  in  cities  or  villages  with  boards  of  education.  The 
legality  of  high  schools  in  all  of  these  districts  is  considered 
next. 

Legal  Decisions. 

Free  public  high  schools  may  be  said  to  have  been  firmly 
established  in  Illinois  when  the  Supreme  Court  affirmed  the 
constitutionality  of  certain  sections  of  the  school  law  that  re- 
ferred to  high  schools,  either  directly  or  by  implication: 
* '  The  legislature  of  the  State  has  the  power  to  enact  any  and 
all  laws  proper  for  the  government  and  wellfare  of  the  people 
of  the  State  not  prohibited  by  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  or  of  this  State.  "^ 

Now  the  constitution  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  adopted  in 
1870,  gave  the  legislature  the  right  to  provide  for  a  system 
of  free  common  schools:  ''The  General  Assembly  shall  pro- 
vide a  thorough  and  efficient  system  of  free  schools,  whereby 
all  the  children  of  this  State  may  receive  a  good  common 
school  education. ' '  ^^ 

But  in  the  case  of  Richards  vs.  Raymond  it  was  main- 
tained that  a  tax  could  not  be  collected  for  the  support  of  a 
township  high  school  because  such  a  school  was  outside  of 
the  meaning  of  the  term,  free  common  school.     In  that  de- 


•  Richards  vs.  Ravmond,  Supreme  Court  Rep.,  v.  92.  111.  p.  612. 
*«  Constitution  of  111..   1870,  Art.  7.  Sec.   1. 


182 

cision,  the  Supreme  Court  affirmed  the  decision  of  the  Ap- 
pellate Court  in  the  following  clear  and  decisive  manner : 

'A  school  of  this  character  is  certainly  a  free  school, 
within  the  meaning  of  the  constitution.  That  free  schools 
may  be  graded  and  classified  so  that  scholars  that  may  be 
more  advanced  in  their  studies  may  not  be  hindered  or  de- 
layed in  the  progress  of  their  studies  by  others,  would  seem 
to  be  within  the  spirit  of  the  constitution,  that  contemplates 
the  creation  of  a  thorough  and  efficient  system  of  free  schools. 
That  one  may  be  denominated  a  high  school  and  another  in 
the  same  township  a  district  school,  cannot  affect  the  question 
in  the  least." 

'But  the  argument  is  that  the  school  established  is  not  a 
common  school  or  a  school  where  the  children  of  the  State 
may  receive  a  good  common  school  education,  and  hence  in- 
hibited by  the  constitution.  No  definition  of  a  common  school 
is  given  or  specified  in  the  constitution,  nor  does  that  in- 
strument declare  what  course  of  studies  shall  constitute  a 
common  school  education.  How  can  it  be  said  that  a  high 
school  is  prohibited  by  the  constitution  and  not  included 
within  the  definition  of  a  common  school?  The  phrase,  a 
common  school  education,  is  not  easily  defined.  One  might 
say  that  a  student  instructed  in  reading,  writing,  geography, 
English  grammar  and  arithmetic,  had  received  a  common 
school  education;  while  another  who  had  more  enlarged 
notions  on  the  subject  might  insist  that  history,  natural  phi- 
losophy and  algebra  should  be  included.  It  would  thus  be 
almost  impossible  to  find  two  persons  who  avouIcI  in  all  re- 
spects agree  in  regard  to  what  constituted  a  common  school 
education." 

''Indeed,  it  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  State,  when 
the  constitution  was  framed,  that  there  was  a  great  want  of 
uniformity  in  the  course  of  study  prescribed  and  taught  in  the 
common  schools  of  the  State.  In  the  larger  and  more  Avealthy 
counties,  the  free  schools  were  well  graded  and  the  course 
of  instruction  of  a  high  order,  while  in  the  thinly  settled  and 
poorer  counties  the  old  district  system  was  still  retained  and 
the  course  of  instruction  prescribed  was  of  a  low 
order."  *  *  * 

"But  *  *  *  while  the  constitution  has  not  defined  what 
good  common  school  education  is,  and  has  failed  to  prescribe 


183 

a  limit  it  is  no  part  of  the  duty  of  the  courts  of  the  State  to 
declare  *  *  *  what  particular  branches  of  study  shall  con- 
stitute a  common  school  education.  That  may  be,  and  doubt- 
less is,  a  proper  question  for  the  determination  of  the  legis- 
lature, and  as  a  law  has  been  enacted  by  it  which  does  not 
appear  to  violate  the  constitution,  it  is  not  the  province  of  the 
courts  to  interfere."  *  *  * 

"If  the  law^  was  constitutional,  then  the  levy  and  col- 
lection *  *  *  of  a  tax  to  maintain  the  school  was  proper, 
although  the  course  of  study  prescribed  was  different  from 
that  contemplated  by  law."  " 

In  considering  the  law  relative  to  the  course  of  study  in 
the  common  school,  one  section  of  the  law  of  1845  gives  the 
course  of  study  a  secondaiy  scope:  *'No  school  shall  derive 
any  benefit  from  the  public  or  town  fund  unless  the  text- 
books used  in  said  schools  shall  be  in  the  English  language: 
Provided,  that  this  section  may  not  apply  to  those  who  may 
desire  to  study  any  foreign  language  in  said  school  for  the 
purpose  of  learning  the  same."^^ 

The  amendment  to  the  school  law  in  1865  farther  en- 
larged the  right  to  teach  secondary  subjects  in  the  common 
schooL  After  listing  elementary  subjects,  the  law  said,  ''that 
nothing  herein  contained  shall  prevent  the  teaching  in  com- 
mon schools,  of  other  and  higher  branches  than  those  enu- 
merated in  this  section,  "^^ 

In  the  case  of  Rulison  vs.  Post,  the  Supreme  Court  de- 
cided that  the  phrase,  "other  and  higher  branches",  was 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  common  school  directors:  "We 
are,  therefore,  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  the  General  As- 
sembly has  invested  school  directors  with  the  power  to  com- 
pel the  teaching  of  other  and  higher  branches  than  those  enu- 
merated, to  those  willing  to  receive  instruction  therein,  but 
has  left  it  purely  optional  with  parents  and  guardians 
whether  the  children  under  their  charge  shall  study  such 
branches."^* 

In  another  decision,  the  same  judicial  body  said  that  in 
determining  the  subjects  to  be  taught  in  the  common  school, 


"  Sess.    Laws,    1845,    p.    64.    Sec.    58. 

"Sess.    Laws.    1S4.5,    p.    64.    Sec.    58. 

"Ibid.   1865.   p.   121,   Sec.   18. 

"Rulison  vs.  Post,  Stiprenie  Court  Rep.,  v.  79.  p.  567 


184 

the  school  directors  thereby  had  the  constitutional  right  to 
determine  what  subjects  constituted  other  and  higher 
branches.  To  the  court  it  was  clear  that  the  subjects  taught 
in  the  high  school  must  be  founded  upon  and  more  advanced 
than  the  subjects  that  were  taught  in  the  elementary  school; 
otherwise,  the  high  school  defeated  the  purpose  for  which  it 
was  created.  ''Here,  then,  in  the  powers  of  common  school 
directors,  is  the  power  to  decide  what  branches  of  study  shall 
be  taught  in  the  high  school,  what  text-books  shall  be  used, 
and  to  prescribe  necessary  rules  and  regulations  for  the  man- 
agement and  government  of  the  school.'"^ 

Finally,  the  Supreme  Court  decided  that  it  was  constitu- 
tional for  the  officers  of  cities  to  levy  taxes  for  the  support  of 
common  schools  under  the  provision  of  the  general  law.  ^''' 

Thus,  the  court  decided  that  the  constitution  recognized  a 
graded  school  as  a  free  common  school.  A  high  school  then, 
as  the  upper  part  of  the  graded  school,  which  had  been  rec- 
ognized more  or  less  since  1855,  was  within  the  spirit  of  the 
constitution.  Moreover,  what  constituted  a  good  common 
school  education  would  be  determined  from  the  practice  of 
communities:  the  wealthier  supporting  elementary  and  higher 
schools,  the  poorer,  only  the  primary  schools.  Since  all 
grades  of  the  common  school  were  in  existence  at  the  time  of 
the  adoption  of  the  constitution  which  made  the  establishment 
of  a  good  common  school  system  mandatory  on  the  legislature, 
the  assembly  acted  within  its  rights  in  allowing  localities  to 
levy  a  tax  for  the  support  of  high  schools. 

Older  laws  gave  a  legal  basis  for  the  subjects  of  study  in 
high  schools.  The  latter  must  teach  subjects  more  advanced 
than  the  elementary  schools  else  it  defeated  the  purpose  of  its 
creation.  Although  many  other  litigations  have  occurred  as  to 
the  legality  of  the  high  school,  these  decisions  may  be  said 
to  have  given  that  institution  its  first  judicial  standing  in  Illi- 
nois as  a  part  of  the  free  common  school  system. 

Not  only  have  these  decisions  affirmed  the  legality  of  the 
high  school  as  the  upper  part  of  the  graded  common  school 
system,  but  they  have  been  at  least  one  factor  in  the  growth  of 
secondary  education  from  about  1880  to  1900.    The  report  of 


"People   vs.  Martin  Van  Allen,    Supreme   Court  Rep.,    1877,   p.    30'; 
"Supreme  Court  Rep.,   v.   89,   p.   297. 


185 

the  state  superintendent  for  1869-70  listed  one  hundred  eight 
high  schools  but  did  not  classify  them.  About  the  same  num- 
ber were  reported  for  1880  but  the  number  was  doubled  at  the 
end  of  the  next  decade  and  increased  about  thirty-three  per 
cent  by  1900.  The  greatest  early  increase  in  high  schools  was 
represented  by  those  districts  with  special  charters.  The  most 
rapid  development  from  1880  to  1900  has  taken  place  in  cities 
and  villages  Avith  boards  of  education.  The  following  table 
shows  that  comparative  growth  in  high  schools  since  the  legal 
decisions  that  have  been  cited  were  made : 

Years  1880    '      1891       1900-02 

Township  high  schools 6  9  21 

Special  charters 33  43  34 

General  law — board  47  137  ^1- 

General  law — directors   24  34  ^1 


OOQ    17 

OOO 


Total 110  223 

Likewise,  the  list  of  accredited  high  schools  has  rapidly 
developed.  In  1877,  when  the  policy  of  accrediting  began,  six 
high  schools  were  so  recognized;  in  1900,  there  were  two  hun- 
dred thirty  such  institutions.  ^® 

A  summary  of  the  establishment  of  the  free  public  liigh 
school  shows  that  it  developed  from  township  organizations, 
districts  under  special  charter,  and  general  school  laws.  The 
earliest  legislation  for  township  organization  for  high  school 
purposes  was  enacted  in  1857.  Princeton  followed  m  18bb, 
and  the  school  law  of  1872  contained  the  township  plan.  The 
township  laws  of  1905,  1911  and  1917  were  enacted  for  the 
purpose  of  making  township  high  schools  easier  of  establish- 
ment. By  the  provisions  of  these  distinctive  acts,  a  variety 
of  high  school  districts  have  been  legalized  and  established. 
A  somewhat  superior  organization  in  comparison  ^Ylth  the 
ordinary  district  has  been  possible  through  the  township 
plan  wliich  began  when  the  policy  for  granting  special  char- 
ters for  union  school  districts  was  common. 

Following  the  precedent  of  granting  charters  to  acad- 
emies by  special  enactments,  the  legislature,  to  1870,  in  spe- 


"  state    Supt.    Reports..    1879-80.    1891-92.    1900-02. 
"  State  Supt.  Report.s.  1900,  p.  78. 


186 

cial  acts  sanctioned  the  creation  of  certain  independent  school 
districts  which,  in  spite  of  the  occasional  violation  of  the  gen- 
eral school  law,  established  high  schools  comparatively  early. 
Since  many  of  the  districts  with  special  charters  have  materi- 
ally changed  in  social  and  economic  conditions,  the  amend- 
ment or  annulment  of  these  charters  would  be  beneficial. 

The  law  of  1855  hastened  the  creation  of  common  schools, 
but  made  it  possible  for  private  institutions  to  become  public. 
In  the  more  advanced,  thickly  populated,  and  Avealthier  com- 
munities, the  upper  part  of  the  union  graded  schools  con- 
stituted the  high  school,  although  the  latter  term  was  not  used 
denotatively  by  State  Superintendents  until  1867,  when  about 
one  hundred  institutions  were  reported.  The  number  of  high 
schools  that  were  reported  increased  very  sloAvly  for  a  decade 
because  the  standards  of  what  was,  or  should  be,  high  schools 
were  rapidly  changing.'.  However,  general  provision  was 
made,  in  1872,  for  the  creation  of  an  independent  board,  when 
the  population  of  a  community  reached  tAvo  thousand,  with 
the  power  to  levy  a  tax  on  property  to  support  free  schools 
of  all  grades. 

The  free  public  high  school  may  be  said  to  have  been 
established  in  Illinois  when  the  Supreme  Court  decided  that 
certain  sections  of  the  laws  of  1872  and  1874,  which  referred 
to  the  common  and  high  schools,  were  constitutional.  A 
township  high  school  was  a  free  school,  it  was  a  part  of  the 
common  school,  and  a  tax  for  its  support  Avas  constitutional 
in  the  judgment  of  the  highest  court.  Directors  were  within 
the  limits  of  the  law  in  requiring  and  determining  what  con- 
stituted "other  and  higher  branches".  Moreover,  taxes  that 
were  levied  in  cities  for  the  support  of  common  schools  were 
legal,  but  no  litigation  over  the  high  schools  was  found,  where 
the  system  had  been  established  under  special  charter. 


187 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


A  Summary  of  Some  Earlier  Influences  Affecting  Later 
Development  and  Practice. 

The  earliest  attempts  to  establish  schools  in  lUmois  were 
wholly  individualistic;  even  the  policy  of  the  State  to  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  that  of  laissez  faire. 
Generally,  provisions  of  various  kinds  were  made  for  acad- 
emic and  common  education,  but  the  carrying  into  effect  of 
most  of  these  provisions  was  left  almost  entirely  to  individual 
will  and  caprice.  Democracy  was  conceived  as  a  plan  of 
action  whereby  each  person  did  as  he  pleased. 

In  contrast  to  that  attitude,  socialization  is  more  nearly 
characteristic  of  the  present  plan  for  secondary  education. 
The  State  has  developed  a  definite  policy  of  making  that  edu- 
cation possible  for  all  the  youth,  since  the  whole  State  has 
been  made  high  school  territory,  either  in  the  form  of  non- 
high  school  districts  that  are  required  to  pay  the  cost  of  a  four- 
year  secondary  education,  in  high  school  areas,  or  districts 
that  maintain  acceptable  institutions.  Moreover,  territorial 
limits,  instead  of  following  certain  surveyed  or  customary 
lines,  are  conceived  in  terms  of  a  community  that  has  suffi- 
cient assessable  property,  and  enough  prospective  pupils  to 
support  an  efficient  high  school.  Illinois  is  pre-eminent  in  the 
advance  that  the  community  high  schools  are  making.  But 
the  State  will  have  taken  another  important  step  W'hen  it 
requires  that  all  the  children  who  can  profit  from  secondary 
education  are  in  school.  Then  will  the  democratic  ideal  of 
equality  of  opportunity  begin  to  function  more  truly. 

As  the  State  has  developed  organizing  and  administrative 
functions,  the  position  of  the  church  in  relation  to  public 
education  has  changed.  The  colonial  Latin  grammar  school 
was  a  sectarian  institution,  but  the  academy  divorced  the 
church  from  the  denominational  aspect,  so  that,  while  the 


188 

latter  was  founded  in  many  instances  by  the  church,  its  pupils 
were  freed  from  subscribing  to  any  creed,  mode  of  worship, 
or  religious  test.  Thus  the  academy  was  the  transition  in- 
stitution between  the  denominational  colonial  Latin  grammar 
school  and  the  secularized  public  school.  From  the  discussion 
of  the  academy  in  Part  I,  both  the  religious  and  semi-public 
aspects  in  the  founding,  management,  and  support  of  the 
academy  have  appeared.  When  the  State  in  its  development 
had  reached  the  point  of  public  support  of  education,  the 
cardinal  principle  of  the  complete  separation  of  the  church 
and  the  State  was  essential. 

A  necessary  feature  of  free  public  education  is  that  the 
wealth  of  the  State  shall  pay  for  the  education  of  the  children 
of  the  State.  The  academy,  of  course,  was  supported  by  the 
sale  or  rents  of  public  land,  interest  from  the  common  school 
fund,  endowments,  and  tuition.  The  public  domain  in  Illinois 
lias  practically  disappeared  but  the  common  schools  today 
receive  their  share  of  a  fund  that  was  created  in  part  by  the 
conditions  laid  down  by  Congress  for  the  admission  of  Illinois 
in  the  Union.  Although  subsequent  provisions  have  been 
made  for  the  increase  of  the  fund,  Illinois,  as  most  other 
states  has  not  sho"VMi  that  she  really  believes  in  providing  the 
greatest  opportunity  for  her  children,  because  the  rate  of 
state  taxation  has  remained  practically  the  same  since  the 
enactment  of  the  free  school  law  of  1855.  Of  course  the  value 
of  property  has  constantly  increased  but  probably  at  a  less 
proportion  than  the  growth  of  the  needs  of  the  school.  Be- 
cause a  two  mills  state  tax  was  levied  in  1855  on  property,  is 
no  justification  for  the  same  rate  and  method  of  taxation  in 
1919. 

Property  in  land  as  a  basis  for  taxation  was  more  equit- 
able when  land  was  easily  obtainable  by  all.  Real  estate  was  an 
acceptable  index  of  wealth,  but  to  use  that  as  the  principal 
method  of  taxation  today,  exempts  large  quantities  of  wealth 
in  other  forms.  No  logical  reason  exists  to  place  an  increas- 
ing burden  on  the  rural  districts.  For  that  reason,  if  for  no 
other,  a  legislature  controlled  by  agricultural  interests  strives 
to  prevent  the  increase  in  taxation. 

More  progressive  kinds  of  taxation,  such  as  that  levied 
in  proportion  to  one's  ability  to  pay,  would  make  it  possible 


189 

to  raise  enough  money  so  that  no  maximum  rate  for  either 
state  or  locality  need  be  written  in  the  law.  Hence  a  larger 
local  fund  could  be  raised  for  educational  purposes,  and  more 
state  money  would  be  available  for  distribution. 

Illinois  still  cherishes  the  out-worn  principle  of  distribut- 
ing funds  according  to  the  school  population.  The  law  of 
1855  inaugurated  a  policy  of  so  distributing  the  state  tax  and 
common  school  fund  that  the  less  able  communities  would  be 
aided  by  those  who  were  more  able  to  pay,  but  it  was  repealed 
because  the  rate  of  assessment  was  so  unequal  in  each  dis- 
trict, and  the  wealthier  sections  wanted  their  state  school  tax 
returned  to  their  own  districts  for  their  own  schools.  It  is 
entirely  conceivable  that  certain  sections  in  some  parts  of 
southern  Illinois  have  found  it  impossible  to  provide  both 
elementary  and  secondary  education  at  all  equal  to  that  which 
has  been  provided  in  the  central  and  northern  districts  of 
the  State.  The  latter  territory  should  be  taxed  by  the  State 
and  the  money  so  distributed  that  the  children  of  the  former 
will  have  a  more  equitable. opportunity. 

The  abolition  of  individual  tuition  payment  for  non- 
resident pupils  in  high  school  areas  as  provided  by  the  law  of 
1917  is  a  partial  equalizing  of  opportunity  for  secondary  edu- 
cation. The  academy  and  the  common  school  usually  received 
fees  before  the  free  school  of  1855  made  taxation  mandatory 
for  the  support  of  the  latter  and  pemiitted  the  former  to  re- 
organize as  a  public  institution.  Even  then,  there  were  in- 
stances in  which  tuition  was  charged  for  secondary  education. 
Galesburg  received  a  special  charter  in  1859  which  allowed 
the  city  council  to  fix  the  rate  of  tuition.  For  a  few  years 
charges  were  made,  so  it  was  said,  not  to  unnecessarily  com- 
pete with  the  college  academy  in  town. 

At  least  any  school  district  was  permitted  to  charge  tui- 
tion for  non-resident  pupils.  Such  cities  as  Springfield, 
Peoria  and  Jacksonville  made  tuition  charges  for  non-resident 
pupils  as  soon  as  the  free  school  law  was  in  operation.  Until 
recently,  pupils  who  lived  outside  of  a  school  district  paid 
their  o^ti  tuition  in  other  districts  unless  their  own  district 
consented  to  pay  the  rate  demanded  by  the  board  where  the 
pupil  w^as  attending  school.  Legal  residence  rather  than  the 
ownership  of  property  was  necessary  to  entitle  one  to  free  tui- 


190 

tion,  although  children  that  were  apprenticed  could  claim  free 
tuition  in  the  district  in  which  the  man  to  whom  they  were  ap- 
prenticed lived. 

In  1913,  a  law  was  enacted  that  provided  for  the  payment 
of  the  tuition  of  high  school  pupils  by  the  district  in  which  the 
pupil  lived  to  the  district  where  the  pupil  attended  high 
school.  That  law  was  superceded  two  years  later  by  a  law 
which  allowed  the  tuition  to  be  paid  out  of  the  distributable 
fund  by  the  county  superintendent  before  the  money  was  ap- 
portioned to  the  county.  Finally,  the  law  of  1917  required 
that  the  non-high  school  territory  of  the  State  shall  pay  the 
tuition  of  their  pupils  to  the  district  where  a  high  school  is 
maintained.  So  far  as  the  State  as  a  whole  is  concerned,  indi- 
vidual tuition  payment  has  been  entirely  abolished. 

Many  of  the  ideas  in  relation  to  education  that  have  been 
conceived  at  an  earlier  date  have  taken  a  long  time  to  realize 
in  practice.  The  manual  labor  aspect  of  the  academies  pur- 
ported to  make  education  economically  possible,  as  well  as  to 
give  the  pupils  an  intelligent  understanding  of  agriculture 
and  industry  so  that  they  could  perform  these  pursuits  more 
advantageously  in  later  life.  But  it  was  not  until  1877  that 
much  the  same  arguments  began  to  be  cited  in  favor  of  man- 
ual training  in  high  schools.  The  educational  leaders  divided 
on  the  question  as  to  whether  manual  training  ought  to  be  a 
cultural  or  a  vocational  subject  of  study.  At  the  present  time, 
all  degrees  of  these  two  ideas  are  mingled  but  the  mixture  is 
clarifying  somewhat  in  that  the  junior  high  school  is  taking 
the  ground  that  it  should  provide  an  opportunity  for  a  large 
range  of  vocational  subject  matter  in  order  that  the  pupil  may 
better  understand  the  constitution  of  social  life;  while  the 
senior  high  school  is  maintaining  that  it  should  provide  voca- 
tional training  along  the  line  for  which  the  pupil  is  fitted 
mentally  and  socially.  Some  of  the  high  schools  in  Illinois  are 
beginning  to  realize  these  two  conceptions. 

Other  schools  have  progressed  only  a  little  beyond  the 
conceptions  underlying  the  aim  of  secondary  education  in  the 
earlier  periods.  The  colonial  Latin  grammar  school  existed 
in  order  to  give  the  ministerial  class  advanced  education  in 
preparation  for  college.  The  academy  was  partly  a  protest 
against  that  idea  so  that  the  lawyer,  for  instance,  found  an  op- 


191 

portunity  for  the  study  of  his  profession.  However  the  acad- 
emy ministered  to  the  wants  and  needs  of  the  upper  middle 
and  wealthier  people  in  Illinois.  The  common  school  system 
was  a  demand  by  the  people  for  equal  rights  in  education.  It 
found  its  aims  and  wants  similar,  hence  it  must  furnish  the 
same  advantages  to  the  public.  Therefore,  in  the  earlier  years 
of  the  high  school,  programs  were  copied  from  the  academy. 
The  languages,  mathematics,  some  science  and  history  formed 
the  center  of  the  curricula  which  were  designated  as  classical, 
general,  English  and  English  classical.  The  subject  matter 
offered  in  the  high  school  programs  emphasized  the  idea  of 
formal  discipline  but  a  justification  for  the  same  material  in 
the  high  schools  now  must  be  based  on  a  different  psychology. 
The  examinations  in  many  of  the  high  schools  have  sho^\^l 
also  little  development  from  formalism.  In  fact,  the  method 
of  examination  in  numerous  academies  and  some  of  the  older 
high  schools  had  some  of  the  advantages  that  the  present  high 
school  examinations  have  lost.  It  is  true  that  part  of  the  ex- 
amination was  rigorous,  but  there  was  the  frequent  oppor- 
tunity for  the  patrons  to  come  in  contact  with  the  work  of  the 
school.  A  stimulus  was  given  to  the  pupils,  while  the  parents 
learned  the  needs  of  the  school.  Many  of  the  examination 
days  were  occasions  for  social  gatherings  which  are  fre- 
quently omitted  now.  The  parents  met  at  the  picnic  dinner 
and  mingled  in  a  friendly  way  such  as  the  social  center  move- 
ment is  trying  to  advance.  The  high  school  must  be  a  func- 
tional institution  in  the  community  where  it  exists,  or  like  the 
grammar  school  and  the  academy,  it  will  be  superceded  by  an 
institution  more  in  consonance  with  the  life  about  it. 

The  academy  was  unable  to  reach  all  of  the  people,  and 
as  a  class  institution  it  had  to  give  way  to  a  school  for  the 
people.  It  had,  however,  a  distinct  relationship  to  the  com- 
mon school  in  preparing  teachers,  and  the  normal  school  is  its 
successor  in  that  respect.  A  bill  of  1835  attempted  to  set  up  a 
state  system  of  county  normal  academies  for  the  preparation 
of  teachers  for  the  common  schools.  Some  academies  were  in- 
stituted, advertised,  and  designated  as  places  where  pros- 
pective teachers  could  be  trained.  One  of  the  arguments  in 
favor  of  the  union  graded  school  was  that  it  prepared  teachers 
for  the  lower   departments.      County    superintendents    and 


192 

teachers'  conventions  urged  the  formation  of  higher  schools 
for  teachers.  The  State  created  the  first  normal  school  in  1857 
and  others  since,  as  well  as  making  it  legal,  in  1869,  for  the 
establishment  of  county  normal  schools. 

But  the  high  schools  seem  never  to  have  lost  the  idea. 
Chicago  created  a  department  in  the  high  school  in  1856  for 
the  instraction  of  teachers.  That  course  continued  in  the  same 
institution  for  several  years  and  then  was  separated  and  en- 
larged into  the  Chicago  Normal  School.  Little  evidence  ex- 
ists that  the  movement  found  more  than  a  scholastic  encour- 
agement in  the  high  schools  over  the  State  until  the  last  two 
decades.  One  was  supposed  to  be  well  qualified  to  teach  the 
common  branches  if  he  had  the  additional  training  of  the  high 
school.  Township  high  schools  have  recently  taken  a  real  in- 
terest in  preparing  rural  teachers.  Those  institutions  are 
better  able  to  assume  the  function  of  preparing  rural  teachers 
than  the  city  high  schools  whose  problems  are  different. 
Therefore,  the  State  might  subsidize  teacher  training  courses 
in  certain  designated  to^vnship  high  schools  in  order  to  en- 
courage and  develop  this  movement  that  has  begun  to  func- 
tion more  satisfactorily  for  the  country  districts. 

A  reorganization,  however,  is  needed  for  the  county  edu- 
cational department.  When  Illinois  was  admitted  as  a  State, 
the  type  of  local  government  adopted  was  that  of  a  county 
commissioners'  court  elected  at  large.  One  of  the  commission- 
ers had  the  important  function  of  supervising  the  public  land 
of  the  county,  as  school  commissioner,  therefore,  his  func- 
tions consisted  of  little  else.  The  office  of  county  superintend- 
ent grew  out  of  the  commissioner  office.  In  spite  of  the  sug- 
gestions that  the  county  superintendent  supervise  the  rural 
schools,  that  officer's  functions  have  remained  inspectoral  and 
clerical. 

A  county  board  should  be  elected  to  represent  the  people, 
but  which  has  the  duty  to  select  a  county  chief  executive  offi- 
cer whose  business  it  would  be  to  administer  the  schools  of 
the  county  as  the  city  superintendent  manages  those  of  the 
city.  Instead  of  the  county  being  supreme  in  itself,  as  many 
of  the  Illinois  counties  are,  it  should  become  a  unit  in  the  edu- 
cational administration  of  the  whole  State. 

While  some  superior  men  have  held  the  office  of  State 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and  while  the  duties 


193 

and  importance  of  that  office  have  increased,  the  same  method 
of  election  occurs  as  was  established  by  the  law  of  1855.  Po- 
litical election  has  little  educational  significance,  and  political 
prejudices  and  ideals  can  be  satisfied  in  the  election  of  the 
governor  who  should  use  his  appointive  power  to  select  a  state 
board  of  education.  The  most  important  business  of  the  state 
board  would  be  to  appoint  a  chief  executive  officer  without 
regard  to  residence,  party,  religion,  race  or  sex.  This  officer 
should  fill  the  highest  educational  position  in  the  State  not  ex- 
cepting the  presidency  of  the  state  university.  Among  the  as- 
sistants that  the  state  superintendent  appointed  should  be  one 
whose  concern  would  be  chiefly  with  secondary  education. 
The  entire  State,  with  the  county  as  the  educational  adminis- 
trative unit,  could  then  be  developed  according  to  its  needs 
and  the  interests  of  any  locality. 

With  the  creation  of  state  and  county  supervisory  units^ 
it  would  be  possible  to  achieve  and  advance  the  aims  of  the 
educational  institutes  that  began  in  the  early  history  of  the 
common  school.  In  the  more  progressive  places,  by  1850,  in- 
stitutes were  held  that  had  a  genuine  educational  significance 
because  superior  institute  leaders  conducted  local  and  state 
conventions  as  schools,  rather  than  as  social  conventions 
which  are  held  today.  Granted  the  value  of  the  inspirational 
institute,  teachers  of  the  elementaiy  and  secondary  school 
ought  to  be  so  organized  in  their  conventions  that  they  could 
be  graded  and  classified  according  to  their  needs.  The  morn- 
ing sessions  might  be  thus  organized  in  classes  which  actually 
recited.  The  conductor  and  teachers  would  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  discuss  their  problems  in  common.  The  afternoon 
should  be  spent  in  actual  study  of  a  problem  for  the  meeting 
the  following  morning.  An  institute  so  conducted  for  a  week, 
and  the  problems  so  studied,  followed  up  for  the  year  by  the 
state  and  county  supervisors,  would  be  a  vital  force  in  the  ele- 
mentary and  secondary  education  of  today. 

Such  a  plan  would  involve  a  closer  connection  of  the 
school  with  the  public  libraries  and  a  farther  development  of 
the  school  libraries.  Some  of  the  earlier  academies  were  to 
perform  the  function  of  supplying  books  to  the  surrounding 
public.  A  little  later  the  State  attempted  to  establish  school 
libraries  but  a  recent  survey  has  shown  that  the  Illinois  high 


194 

schools,  to  say  nothing  of  the  elementary  schools,  are  inade- 
quately supplied  with  library  facilities.  It  is  true  that  stand- 
ards for  accrediting  have  required  certain  library  equipment 
but  the  development  in  supplying  magazines,  newspapers, 
reference  books  and  fiction  for  secondary  education  is  just  in 
its  beginning. 

Also,  as  was  suggested  in  the  last  chapter,  the  State  has 
just  started  on  the  course  of  disregarding  district  lines  for  a 
more  reasonable  basis  for  the  establishment  of  high  school 
centers.  A  brighter  period  is  commencing  for  the  sanctity  of 
tradition  and  custom  are  being  called  in  question.  The  limi- 
tation of  secondary  education  to  four  years,  the  length  of  the 
school  year,  part  of  the  subject  matter  in  the  curricula,  the 
sharp  break  between  the  high  and  the  elementary  schools  and 
much  of  the  school  legislation  are  to  be  regarded  as  historical 
accidents,  rather  than  inviolable  and  sacred  principles. 

The  history  of  the  secondary  institutions,  the  laws  and 
practices  that  surrounded  the  academy  and  the  early  high 
school,  give  an  intelligent  conception  of  secondary  education 
in  Illinois  at  the  present  time.  Experience  thus  becomes  an 
intelligent  guide  for  future  action. 


195 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Swnmary  and  Conclusion. 
Illinois  is  an  excellent  example  of  a  miclwestem  state  that 
was  settled  by  people  from  the  older  states  of  the  East  and  the 
South  for  the  purpose  usually,  of  raising  their  economic  status 
bv  taking  advantage  of  the  relatively  free  western  land.  When 
the  State  was  admitted  as  a  member  of  the  Union,  the  congres- 
sional land  grants,  the  basis  of  which  was  created  by  the 
Northwest  Ordinances,  were  accepted  by  the  people  for  educa- 
tional purposes.  The  earliest  schools  were  individualistic  and 
sporadic  attempts  that  were  attended  with  meager  success  m 
a  hostile,  wilderness  country.  More  concentrated  action  oc- 
curred when  the  legislature,  beginning  in  1818,  adopted  the 
policy  of  granting  special  charters  to  groups  of  individuals 
for  the  creation  of  semi-public  academies.  Some  of  the  re- 
quirements were  to  make  it  possible  for  the  poor  of  the  com- 
munity to  be  educated  at  public  expense;  other  provisions 
looked  forward  to  the  time  when  all  classes  in  the  locality,  in- 
cluding the  girls,  should  receive  free  tuition  if  the  funds  of  the 
institution  permitted  it.  All  charters  required  religious  free 
dom,  but  allowed  the  administrative  board  to  perform  any 
other  function  that  was  not  contrary  to  law.  The  purposes  tor 
which  the  academy  was  established,  the  form  of  administra- 
tive organization,  and  the  financial  support  varied. 

The  aims  of  the  academy  were  to  disseminate  useful 
knowledge;  to  give  women  high  intellectual  and  moral  cul- 
ture; to  fit  vouth  for  the  various  duties  of  life;  to  prepare 
teachers  for  the  common  schools;  to  promote  science  and  lit- 
erature; to  develop  a  sound  physical  body;  to  act  as  libraries; 
to  establish  a  system  of  manual  labor,  and  to  educate  the 
children  of  the  common  man.  The  manner  of  election,  the 
number,  and  the  term  of  the  trustees  followed  no  general  mle, 
although  the  powers  conferred  on  them  were  usually  those 


196 

that  were  granted  to  bodies  politic  and  corporate.  The  sup- 
port came  from  the  rent  or  the  sale  of  school  lands ;  a  share  in 
the  common  school  fund;  gifts;  endowments;  the  sale  of 
shares  of  stock ;  and,  tuition. 

Much  of  the  machinery  that  existed  for  the  administra- 
tive organization  and  supervision  of  education  was  found  in 
the  church.  Missionary  preachers  opened  academies  in  the 
centers  of  population  to  educate  the  youth,  as  well  as  to  pre- 
pare ministers  of  the  gospel.  McKendreean,  Alton,  and  Illi- 
nois Colleges,  respectively  representing  Methodist,  Baptist, 
and  Presbyterian-Congregational  efforts,  united  their 
strength  before  the  legislature  granted  them  charters.  Fol- 
lowing the  period  of  the  legislature-church  struggle,  charters 
were  freely  given  to  academies,  but  many  of  them  were  mod- 
eled upon  college  charters  which  had  shown  the  unmistakable 
influence  of  New  England  and  the  Yale  movement  in  Illinois. 

The  State  went  little  farther  than  to  grant  charters  to 
groups  of  individuals  for  academic  purposes,  or  to  recognize 
permissively  any  unchartered  institution  that  kept  within  the 
bounds  of  law.  The  results  were  that  the  standards  for  admis- 
sion, tuition  fees,  the  length  of  the  school  year,  and  the  length 
of  the  school  day  were  in  no  sense  uniform  throughout  the 
State.  However,  the  academy  did  retain  the  core  of  subjects 
of  the  Latin  grammar  school,  around  which  other  subjects 
were  added  to  prepare  students  for  useful  and  professional 
positions  in  life.  Besides  the  ancient  languages  and  arith- 
metic, modern  languages,  more  mathematical  subjects,  some 
social  sciences,  natural  and  physical  sciences,  philosophy,  re- 
ligion, cultural  and  artistic  subjects,  and  manual  labor,  were 
added.  Formal  examinations  were  conducted,  at  the  close  of 
each  term,  by  a  local  committee  of  prominent  men,  usually 
ministers,  to  pass  judgment  on  the  efficiency  of  instruction. 
Occasionally,  a  farsighted,  liberal  minded  academic  principal 
indicated  some  of  the  social  values  of  an  education. 

A  utilitarian  educational  philosophy  was  introduced  in 
the  West  by  the  manual  labor  movement  which  maintained: 
that  only  the  useful  in  schools  was  valuable;  that  mental  and 
physical  work  were  practicable  only  when  they  were  united; 
that  conjoint  mental  and  physical  work  were  economical  be- 
cause time  was  saved  in  gaining  knowledge  and  learning  a 


197 

trade;  that  manual  labor  connected  with  the  schools  was  far 
superior  to  harmful  play;  that  new  and  better  opportunities 
were  opened  up  through  which  a  living  could  be  made ;  that 
manual  labor  connected  with  scholastic  pursuits,  above  all, 
was  democratic,  and  that  the  cost  of  theoretical  and  practical 
education  was  within  the  reach  of  a  larger  number.  The  edi- 
tors, churches,  missionary  societies,  and  the  early  educational 
leaders  were  convinced  of  the  value  of  the  system  that  was  ad- 
vocated by  Neef  and  Maclure.  Consequently,  manual  labor 
schools  were  created,  and  that  feature  was  incorporated  m 
several  of  the  literary  institutions.  Turner  followed  up  the 
idea,  enlarged  it  and  made  it  more  specific  in  his  plan  for  and 
the  advocacy  of  a  system  of  education  in  which  the  common 
man  would  have  equal  advantages  with  the  professional 
classes.  Partly  due  to  his  efforts,  the  Morrill  Land  Grant  Act 
was  passed  by  congress,  and  the  Illinois  Industrial  University 
was  chartered.  A  decade  later,  the  high  schools  began  to  in- 
troduce some  features  of  the  manual  labor  idea  in  the  system 
of  manual  training.  ,       ... 

The  academy  was  a  well  established  institution  m  Illinois 
by  1850.  Before  that  date,  scarcely  any  other  means  existed 
in  the  State  by  which  a  useful,  cultural,  or  professional  sec- 
ondaiy  education  could  be  obtained.  In  spite  of  ^  the  pro- 
nouncements that  the  academy  was  a  frontier  institution  m 
which  all  classes  could  mingle,  it  served  only  a  limited  number 
of  the  population  who  lived  near  its  doors  and  were  able  to 
pay  the  price  for  instruction.  Therefore,  the  next  step  m  the 
discussion  is  the  role  that  the  common  school  played  m  the 
education  of  the  children  of  the  State. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
the  apprenticeship  svstem  of  education  was  dying  out  m  the 
older  states  of  the  East  and  the  South.  However  the  emi- 
grants from  the  latter  had  carried  that  custom  to  Illinois,  ap- 
prenticeship laws  had  been  passed,  and  indenture  agreements 
were  made  with  some  white  youth  and  negroes,  but  the  system 
was  not  as  extensive  as  it  had  been  in  the  colonial  days  be- 
cause of  the  increasing  opportunities  for  education,  and  tjie 
growing  sentiments  of  the  humanitarian  philosophy  m  tiie 
rights  of  all  individuals  for  freedom  and  equality. 

To  provide  that  liberty,  and  to  insure  the  permanence  ot 
free  institutions  in  Illinois,  the  education  of  the  youth  ot  the 


1!)8 

State  by  means  of  a  system  of  free  common  schools,  was 
necessary.  The  law  of  1825  provided  that  a  school  system 
should  be  established,  that  the  schools  should  be  free  to  all 
children,  and  that  the  schools  thus  created  should  be  sup- 
ported by  two  per  cent  of  all  the  yearly  state  revenues,  and  by 
a  local  general  property  tax.  Governor  Coles  was  probably 
the  author  of  the  bill,  rather  than  Senator  Duncan,  and  drew 
his  ideas  for  a  complete  system  of  education  consisting  of 
primary,  secondary  and  university  instruction  from  Jeffer- 
son's plan,  with  which  he  was  familiar.  The  first  concern  was 
with  primary  instruction,  which  the  law  of  1825  made  possi- 
ble. Five  free  school  districts  were  ordered  established  in 
Madison  county  by  the  county  commissioners  within  a  few 
months  after  the  enactment  of  the  law.  No  complaint  was 
made  in  the  Edwardsville  paper  or  in  the  county  court,  al- 
though objection  must  have  been  marked  in  some  of  the  other 
counties  because  the  legislature  annuled  the  local  tax  clause, 
in  1827,  and  the  state  two  per  cent  section  in  1829.  From  that 
time,  to  1855,  common  schools  in  general,  were  supported  by 
the  parents  of  the  children  who  attended  the  schools. 

The  efforts  of  the  educational  and  political  leaders  of  the 
State  were  redoubled,  after  the  annulment  of  the  law  of  1825, 
in  order  to  create  a  free  common  school  system.  An  educa- 
tional survey  of  Illinois,  and  the  assembling  of  information 
about  educational  progress  of  the  eastern  states,  were  the 
bases  on  which  a  teacher  association  addressed  the  people  of 
the  State  and  sent  a  memorial  to  the  legislature  on  the  subject 
of  common  schools.  The  sections  of  the  bill  which  provided 
for  free  schools  and  the  establishment  of  an  academy  in  each 
county  for  the  training  of  teachers,  were  defeated.  Some  of 
the  academies  did  supply  a  scholastic  education  for  the  com- 
mon school  teacher,  but  there  was  no  state  supported  normal 
school  until  1857.  Little  had  been  expected  of  the  common 
teacher  in  qualifications,  little  of  value  was  returned  in  the 
way  of  service,  but  the  wages  were  equally  as  good  as  those 
paid  by  the  older  eastern  and  New  England  States. 

Four  agencies  through  which  the  common  school  was 
aided  in  its  development  and  in  its  establishment  as  a  free 
public  institution,  were  notable.  1.  Prominent  educational 
leaders  were:  many  of  the  governors;  the  Illinois  College 


199 

group;  such  editors  as  Judge  Hall,  John  S.  Wright,  and 
Charles  E.  Hovey;  the  missionary  circuit  riders,  and  resident 
ministers;  state  superintendents;  legislators;  state  agents,  and 
a  few  nationally  prominent  men  in  the  persons  of  Jefferson, 
Clinton,  Mann  and  Barnard.  2.  Many  of  the  newspapers  of  the 
State,  The  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine,  The  Common  School 
Advocate,  The  Prairie  Farmer,  and  The  Illinois  Teacher, 
were  the  literary  means  devoted  to  the  cause  of  the  common 
school.  3.  Some  of  the  institutions  that  increased  the  general 
intelligence  of  the  people,  and  created  a  desire  for  better  edu- 
cational opportunities,  were:  The  Ladies'  Aid  Association 
for  the  Education  of  Females;  working-men's  organizations; 
public  libraries ;  Sunday  schools ;  and  academies.  4.  Enthusi- 
asm, harmony,  and  co-operation  among  the  friends  of  the  com- 
mon school  in  the  interest  of  enlightenment,  were  developed 
by  educational  convention. 

The  legislature  partly  followed  the  advice  of  the  Peoria 
Teachers'  Convention  by  creating  a  State  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools  in  the  person  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  and 
allowing  a  tax  to  be  levied  for  the  support  of  common  schools 
in  any  district  where  two-thirds  of  the  legal  voters  so  decided. 
The  constitutional  convention  provided,  in  the  first  draft  of 
the  constitution,  for  the  levying  of  a  tax  for  the  maintenance 
of  free  schools,  and  appointment  of  a  separate  Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools,  but  the  final  draft  of  the  constitution  of 
1847,  was  singularly  silent  on  the  subject  of  education. 

The  demands  became  so  urgent  that  the  governor,  in 
1854,^  appointed  a  state  superintendent  whom  the  legislature 
charged  with  the  duty  of  providing  a  bill  for  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  entire  common  school  system.  The  bill  was  passed 
in  1855.  A  state  tax  of  two  mills  was  levied  on  every  dollar  of 
property  and  the  income  added  to  the  common  school  fund ;  a 
local  tax  was  levied  by  the  trustees  of  both  to^vnsllip  and 
district  to  help  maintain  at  leas];  one  free  school  in  every  dis- 
trict for  six  months  in  the  year.  The  state  common  school 
fund  was  distributed  in  such  a  manner  that  two-thirds  was 
given  to  the  county  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  white  chil- 
dren between  the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one  years;  the  re- 
maining one-third  was  distributed  on  the  basis  of  the  number 

•  See  foot-note  following-  reference  13,  Chapter  XI. 


200 

of  townships,  or  parts  of  townships  in  each  county.  The 
money  due  the  townships  was  to  be  distributed  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  days  of  school  that  were  actually  taught. 

The  method  of  distribution  of  the  state  school  fund, 
which  benefited  the  poorer  sections,  as  well  as  the  richer  dis- 
tricts, was  a  powerful  argument  in  favor  of  free  schools.  Such 
institutions  were  democratic;  they  were  the  means  by  which 
children  could  be  educated  at  home ;  they  were  located  where 
they  were  needed,  and  they  were  inexpensive.  Nevertheless, 
the  successful  academy  had  superior  teachers ;  they  were  bet- 
ter equipped,  and  they  had  more  extensive  subjects  of  study. 
Thus  two  sharply  defined  groups  existed  in  the  State ;  the  one 
favored  the  common  school,  the  other  favored  the  academy. 
At  one  extreme,  the  free  school  was  placed  in  a  class  with  free 
negroes ;  at  the  other,  it  was  eulogized. 

The  common  school  was  passing  through  the  process  of 
grading  in  the  period  under  consideration  so  that  it  was  being 
divided  into  primary,  grammar,  and  higher  departments. 
More  of  the  first  were  needed,  less  of  the  second,  and  still 
fewer  of  the  last,  to  serve  the  educational  requirements  of  a 
community.  To  facilitate  the  process  of  grading,  which  pro- 
vided better  opportunities  for  the  children,  the  practice  of 
joining  districts  developed  in  which  a  higher  department 
could  ser^^e  the  entire  union  territory.  The  legislature  recog- 
nized the  right  of  unionization  in  legalizing  the  action  of 
certain  directors,  who  had  joined  their  districts,  even  before 
the  free  school  law  made  a  general  provision  for  grading. 

The  high  school,  usually  designated  as  a  part  of  the 
common  school  system,  thus  had  one  root  of  its  origin  in  the 
common  school.  Sometimes,  the  city  council,  as  in  Chicago, 
created  a  high  school  as  a  part  of  the  common  school  system, 
but  for  a  few  years  the  highest  part  of  the  elementary  schools, 
overlapped  the  lowest  part  of  the  high  school.  Neither  had 
yet  defined  entirely  its  sphere  of  action.  The  other  main  root 
of  the  high  school  was  in  the  academy.  The  latter  institutions 
that  were  especially  strong  dominated  the  secondary  field  for 
several  years,  even  after  the  free  school  law  was  passed  be- 
cause they  were  already  in  existence,  because  the  conserva- 
tives hated  to  forsake  them  for  the  conmaon  schools,  because 
many  people  objected  to  paying  a  tax  for  the  education  of 


201 

other  children  than  their  own,  and  because  they  were  better 
equipped  with  superior  teachers,  apparatus,  buildings,  and  a 
more  suitable  program  of  subjects.  The  weaker  academies 
were  glad  of  the  chance  to  reorganize  as  free  schools  because 
the  means  of  support  was  at  hand.  In  the  long  run,  however, 
the  academies  failed  to  hold  their  OAvn  \\dth  the  free  public 
high  school  which  was  under  way  before  the  Civil  War. 

A  second  proof  that  the  common  schools  were  providing 
some  secondary  education  is  found  in  the  examination  of  the 
character  of  their  subjects  of  study.  What  were  usually 
designated  as  elementary  subjects  were  taught  in  the  common 
schools,  but  many  instances  existed  where  higher  branches 
received  equal  and  even  more  emphasis.  The  explanation  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  the  academies  supplied  a  great  number 
of  common  school  teachers  wiio  naturally  taught  the  subjects 
that  they  had  learned  in  the  academy.  Moreover,  the  common 
school  took  the  academy  as  its  pattern;  what  was  considered 
the  means  of  a  cultural  education  in  the  latter,  were  equally 
appropriate  for  the  common  man's  children.  Hence  the  free 
public  high  school  based  much  of  its  subject  matter  on  the 
academic  program,  which  was  the  current  secondary  practice, 
and  which  had  a  distinct  philosophy  underlying  it. 

By  1860  the  common  schools,  as  had  been  suggested  in 
the  process  of  gradation,  considered  that  some  subject  matter 
was  more  difficult  than  other  material.  Before  passing  to  a 
higher  department,  the  next  lower  one  must  have  been  com- 
pleted. Hence  the  high  school  required  the  passing  of  more 
or  less  formal  examinations  as  a  condition  of  entrance. 

The  law  of  1825  which  provided  for  free  schools  was  re- 
pealed a  few  years  later;  a  second  effort  was  made  in  1835, 
for  free  common  schools.  After  several  previous  efforts,  the 
first  relatively  permanent  free  school  law  was  passed  in  1855 
by  which  taxation  was  mandatory.  The  common  school  sys- 
tem, with  its  upper  part,  the  high  school,  was  supported  at 
public  expense. 

For  a  considerable  period  of  time  before  the  passage  of 
the  free  school  law,  townships  were  incorporated  for  educa- 
tional purposes  under  the  control  of  elected  trustees  whose 
duty  it  was  to  district  the  township  to  suit  the  wishes  and 
convenience  of  the  people.    The  law  of  1855,  as  amended  in 


202 

1857,  1859  and  1865,  provided  for  the  union  of  districts  which 
were  to  be  under  the  control  of  a  publicly  elected  board  of 
trustees.  Since  high  schools  were  very  likely  to  have  been 
created  when  districts  united,  the  third  distinguishing  char- 
acteristic of  the  free  public  high  school  was  that  it  was  con- 
trolled by  a  public  board. 

However,  several  years  elapsed  before  the  high  school 
in  Illinois  had  defined  its  sphere  of  action,  and  before  it  had 
grown  into  the  affections  of  the  people.  When  the  Supreme 
Court  decisions,  between  1875  and  1879,  had  settled  the  con- 
stitutionality of  certain  sections  of  the  school  law  relative  to 
the  common  school  and  the  high  school,  the  latter  institution 
may  be  said  to  have  been  firmly  established.  The  gap  had 
been  bridged  between  secondary  and  common  school  educa- 
tion. No  longer  was  the  academy  the  institution  that  pro- 
vided the  elementary  and  secondary  education  for  the  wealth- 
ier people ;  nor  was  the  common  school  the  institution  of  the 
poor  man  alone.  Instead  of  the  continuation  of  the  beginning 
of  a  parallel  system  of  class  education,  democracy  in  Illinois 
had  made  a  vertical  system  in  which  a  ladder  extended  for  all 
from  the  primary  grades  to  the  university. 


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Smith,  L.  W.,  Illinois  High  Schools.     Spfg.,  1917.  .    .„    „  ,         ,    o 

Hollister,  H.  A.,  Township  High  Schools  in  Illinois.     Uni.  111.  Bui.,  vol.   8, 

Lobdell,  G.  M.,  Development  of  Free  Schools  in  Illinois;  unpublished  Mas- 
ter's Thesis,  Columbia  University,  1912, 


206 

Steele,  W.  L.,  Galesburg  Public  Schools,  their  history  and  work.     GaHs- 

burg,  1911. 
Powell,  B.  E.,  Semi-Centennial  History  of  the  University  of  Illinois. 
Harker,    O.   A.,   Illinois    Educational    Corporations    under    Special    Charter. 

1916.    Reprint  of  Illinois  Law  Review,  1916. 
Harding,  S.  B.,  Indiana  University,  1820-1904.     Bloomington,  1904. 
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ress. 1  Session,  no.  5. 
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United  States,  Teachers  College,  1917-1918. 
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1918. 
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VITA 


The  author  of  this  dissertatioti,  Paul  E.  Belt.n-g,  was  born 
at  IlliopoHs.  Sattgattton  County,  Illinois,  on  SeptenAer  5.  1886. 

He  received  his  early  education  in  the  pubhc  ^'=^00  s  of  Ilh- 
nois,  graduating  from  the  Mattoon.  Illinois.  H,gh  School  m  1907^ 
He  was  a  student  in  the  Eastern  Illinois  State  Normal  School 
."Charleston,  Illinois,  and  upon  graduation  in  1909  became  the 
principal  of  the  Martinsville.  Illinois,  High  School  for  one  yea. 
He  was  a  student  in  the  University  of   Ilhnots     rom   1910  to 
1912    from  which  institution  he  received  the  Bachelor  of  Arts 
de-r^e  in  1912.     He  was  principal  of  the  Globe.  Arizona.  H,gh 
School  in  1912-1913,  and  principal  of  the  Oskaloosa,  Iowa,  H,gh 
School  from  1913  to  1917.     He  did  graduate  -"^  -">-  ^^^^ 
versitv  of  Illinois  during  the  summer  sessions  ot  1912,  1916,  and 
1917      He  was  an  assistairt  in  games  at  the  Horace  Mann  School 

or  Bovs  New  York  City,  and  a  student  in  Teachers  College, 
Columbia  University  fro,/ 1917  to  1919  and  received  the  Master 
of  Arts  degree  in  1918. 


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